Moon Solider
by Knight's Journey
Summary: Re-Write of Autumn Moon. Autumn Moon was a normal girl, but now she's in an unfamiliar world and must adapt to new challenges, make new friends and find love. And Twin Masters don't like that and they don't like her. Lin Chung x OC
1. Falling

The universe works in mysterious and often strange ways and often defies its own laws, but does so to fix itself. When it does it often changes the lives of all those involved, as it did for these heroes.

A young girl hiked through the woods one fall day. She was around eighteen with lightly tanned skin, a light dusting of freckles on her nose, deep rich dark brown eyes and dark red hair. She dressed in dark boot cut jeans, a form fitting black t-shirt with a Pikachu on the front, a light jacket and hiking boots. On her back was large backpack filled with sketch books, drawing supplies, clean clothes and emergency knife.

Her name was Autumn Moon and every day she hiked to her favorite spot in these wood for some quiet time. She loved nature and all of the living things found in nature. After finding her favorite rock and took out one of her sketchbooks and began drawing pinecones.

Suddenly the ground began to shake and opened up below Autumn swallowing her into the earth below.

Jumpy Ghostface sat on top of Big Green Headquarters talking with his butterfly friend when he saw something fall from the sky.

"What…. That?" Jumpy asked in broken english.

Hopping down to the open hanger of Big Green Air Force he called the attention of the Air Force members.

"Emergency!" Jumpy yelled.

"What's going on?" Rosefinch asked.

"Human….Falling from… Sky!" Jumpy said in a hurry.

Master Chou took his telescope and looked through it. He saw Autumn falling at a dangerous speed towards the open water.

"Jumpy's right! There's a human girl falling from the sky! We need to rescue her!" He yelled.

The Air Force jumped onto their planes and took off towards Autumn. As they got closer Autumn started falling faster towards the water. Rosefinch and Mano got close enough to grab her by her backpack, only for her to slip out from the straps. Luckily Burly and Master Chou managed to catch her before she landed in the water.

"Got her! Return to base!" Chou yelled.

When they landed in the hanger Rosefinch looked over Autumn, noting she was unconscious and pale. She checked for a pulse and found a strong and steady heart beat.

"She's alright but we should get her to the infermy for further tests." She said and looked at Jumpy Ghostface. "Go get Commander Apetrully and Woo the Wise and tell them to meet us there."

Jumpy nodded and hopped to the commander's room as fast as his little rabbit legs could go. At one point he knocked Mighty Ray over in his hurry.

"Hey what's the big idea?!" Mighty Ray yelled chasing after the Rabbit King.

"Girl …. Hurt! Need Apetrully!" Jumpy said.

Mighty Ray stopped in his tracks and scratched his head. "What girl?"

Master Chou and Mano laid Autumn on one of the cots in the Big Green Infirmary. The infirmary was a big white room with paintings of flowers on the wall. There were about twenty four cots lined up on the wall with medicine cabinets between every three cots. Most of the cots were empty but few had the occasional soldier with a cold on it.

"What in the name of banana cream pie is going on?" Apetrully asked as he and Woo the Wise came in.

"Commander we rescued this girl while she was falling the sky. We have no idea who she is or where she came from." Master Chou said.

Woo took out his doctor's bag and began to examine her. After checking her vitals he took X-Rays and checked her heart beat. During all this First Squad came in to see what all the hubbub was about. Lin Chung looked at Rosefinch.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"This girl fell from the sky and we have no idea who she is or where she came from." she said.

"She's waking up!" Woo yelled in excitement, making his robes fly up like an inside out umbrella.

Everyone backed up to give her some breathing room.

Autumn slowly opened her eyes and sat up. She looked around the room, wondering where on God's green Earth she was. Then she noticed the all the people, er, well people and a giant rabbit looking at her. She felt the urge to scream and run away but the pain in her abdomen kept her from doing either of those things.

"Who-Who are you people?! Where am I?!" She said panicked, making her cough.

Jumpy handed her a glass of water. "Drink….this."

Autumn took it and gulped it down.

"Better?" Sonya asked.

"Much. Thanks." she says. "Now please answer my questions!"

Apetrully stepped forward. "I am Commander Apetrully, this Woo the Wise, Lin Chung, Mighty Ray, Mystique Sonya, Jumpy Ghostface, Mr. Nohands, Rosefinch, Master Chou, Burly and Mano. You are in the Big Green infirmary."

"I'm Autumn Moon. Now how did I get here? Last thing I remember was drawing pine cones for art class and the ground opened up and I fell." Autumn said.

"That is what we want to figure out. Till then you are welcome to stay here at Big Green." Woo said.

Autumn sighed. She didn't know these people and this was making her uncomfortable. "Alright." she mumbled.

"You should rest for now. Lin Chung will show you around tomorrow morning." Woo said.

Autumn nodded and laid back down. The members of Big Green left Autumn to rest.

 _On a battlefield somewhere in Hidden Kingdom two figures stood warriors in the smoke of the battle. The one on the right wore a golden battle robe and the one left wore black armour. The two clashed with bright auras one with bright green and the other with red and blue._

" _I will never back down! I know you! I know you're still the man I love!" The golden warrior yelled._

" _That is where you're wrong! I have embraced my inner darkness and I will destroy you and all of Hidden Kingdom!" The dark warrior yelled as he attacked. He slashed the woman in the chest. She fell, bleeding from her chest and looking up at him._

" _My love will always be with you…."_

Apetrully sat up in his bed, breathing heavily.

"That dream…. It couldn't be…." He mumbled and went over to his bookshelf and grabbed an old scroll.

The scroll told of a prophecy about two warriors, one who was bright as the sun and the other who fell to the darkness of chaos to protect the other. They would either bring peace or destruction. Apetrully had known this story since he was an infant, but never thought it was true. If his dream was foreshadowing the rise of the Dark Soldier then he had to prepare Big Green.

Over in East Citadel, High Roller woke up from the same dream, breathing hard. He took a minute to calm down before cackling. If this dream was true, then he need to tell Twin Masters.


	2. Promise of a King

Autumn woke up in the middle of the night to a growling stomach. She looked around and quietly crept out of bed and into the hallway.

The hall was nothing more than a long stretch of hatches and more halls with more hatches. To any member of Big Green it was easy to navigate, but to her it was a confusing labyrinth. It didn't help that there was little to no light to help her.

Autumn walked slowly down the hall with one hand on the wall and the other out in front of her. As she walked she listened for anyone coming.

"Nothing so far…" She mumbled as she walked.

Soon she found herself among the turtles of Big Green in the turtle room. The shelled reptiles looked at the intruder with intrigue and walked closer to the human girl. One of First Squad's turtles sniffed at Autumn's leg, making her uncomfortable.

"N-Nice turtles…. Can you show me where the kitchen is?" she asked softly.

The turtles of First Squad looked at each other and then back to her. They nodded. One of them offered Autumn a ride on its back, that way she didn't run into anything. Autumn accepted and sat on one of the turtle's backs. The five turtles lead her down the hall, past the infirmary, and to the right, stopping at the entrance to the mess hall.

"Thank you, would you five like anything to eat?" She asked patting their heads.

The turtles nodded and followed Autumn into the kitchen.

* * *

Lin Chung could not sleep for the life of him. He kept tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable. At one point he even got up and tried painting, but it didn't help his restlessness. Sighing, he went to the kitchens for a hot cup of tea. Hopefully, that would help him fall asleep.

As he approached he could hear someone talking. Lin Chung slowly walked in and spotted Autumn talking to the turtles. She seemed much more relaxed than before.

" _Probably because she didn't have ten people crowding her bed."_ He thought. "Autumn," He said

The dark haired girl jumped and looked at him. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"My intent was not to scare you but you should be resting." Lin Chung said sitting next to her.

Autumn shrugged and moved one seat over. "Sorry. I got hungry. And then I got lost." She said pouring herself a cup of tea. "Want a cup?" she asked.

"Yes please."

Autumn poured the leader of First Squad a cup and the two sat in silence. Autumn started thinking about all that happened in a couple of hours. How was she going to get home? Was her family worried? What about her friends? Was she stuck here forever?

Autumn grabbed her head and closed her eyes. She was scared and now she was getting an anxiety attack.  
 _"Breath….! Breath idiot!"_

She felt someone put a hand on her back and a wave of calming energy flow through her. The energy felt a cold wind on a hot day. It was calming but also made her feel focused. Opening her eyes she saw Lin Chung pulling his hand away from her. The gray-haired young man gave her a soft smile.

"How did you do that?" Autumn asked.

"Harmonic energy. I normally use it in battle, but it can be used for healing." Lin Chung said. "What was that?"

"Anxiety attack… Its okay, I know how to deal with them." She says.

Lin Chung nodded and sipped his tea. The two sat in silence for a while until Lin Chung decided to make small talk.

"So, what's your family like?" he asked.

"I have four older brothers and we all live with my grandma and grandpa. My parents are in the military. I…. don't see them as much as I would like but its okay. My brothers are cool, sometimes overprotective. Cole is the oldest, he wants to be a doctor and is really smart. Then there's Xander, he's the sporty one. He's also really irritating and loud. Nicky is the smarty-pants. He spends his time building model rockets and launching them in the backyard. And there's Andy. He's….. unique… He spends his time reading fashion magazines and fixing all our clothes ." She said.

Lin Chung nodded and listened to her talk for a while. She went on and on about how her brothers once took her to the local park and climbed the biggest tree only for the five of them to get stuck up there and the fire department had to be called.

"And then Andy got his pants stuck on a *yawn* branch and they ripped *yawn* clean off." She yawned.

The warrior gave the young woman a soft smile and took her teacup. "I think its time for you to get some rest." He helped her up and walked her back to the infirmary. Autumn leaned on him and was already asleep by the time they reached her cot.

" Good night Autumn."

"G'night…."

* * *

The next morning Autumn woke up to two people fighting near her bed. She groaned and covered her head with her pillow and tried to get back to sleep.

"Let go banana brain!"

"You let go blue tongue!"

Autumn suddenly felt something hot and on her back, making her yelp and fall out of bed. Groaning, she sat up and found a bow of rice and eggs on the floor next to her.

"I have a feeling that was supposed to be my breakfast." She said.

Mystique Sonya and Mighty Ray ran over to her. "We're so sorry!" Sonya apologized.

"It's okay. At least it wasn't something really sticky." Autumn said brushing off the last bits of her would be breakfast. "You're Mystique Sonya and Mighty Ray right?"

"Yeah, that's us. Sorry about your breakfast. Woo the Wise told _**me**_ to bring it to you." Mighty Ray said glaring at Sonya.

Sonya glared back. "No, he told me to bring it!"

"No, he told me to do it!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did!"

"Both of you stop bickering!" Woo the Wise said coming in with another bowl of rice and eggs. "I had a feeling our guest's breakfast wouldn't make it." The short man gave Autumn the bowl.

"Thank you," Autumn said.

"My pleasure. I apologize for the rude awakening. I sent these two to bring you breakfast and show you to the Frist Squad meeting room."

"Its okay, this isn't the first time someone has dropped food on me in my sleep. At least this time it wasn't hot soup." She laughed.

The three members of Big Green let Autumn eat her breakfast. Afterward, Sonya showed her to the bathroom so she could freshen up. Autumn took a quick shower and took out her extra clothes. Only they weren't her clothes. She pulled out a large blue gi and leather belt.

"This isn't good." She said. Autumn tried it on, only for it to be three sizes too big.

"Is everything okay in there?" Sonya asked.

"I'm having a bit of a wardrobe malfunction," Autumn said as she came out.

Sonya bit her tongue in order not to laugh. The brunet looked like a giant sock puppet in that outfit. The blue gi hung so loosely on her shoulders and you could see almost her entire bra.

"Maybe I can help." She said and lead her to her room.

Sonya handed Autumn a red version of her signature dress and a pair of black leggings. "Here, we're about the same size. You change and I'll take your gi to Peacock Queen and Sheep Queen for some alterations."

"Thank you," Autumn said as she stepped behind the shoji divider to change.

* * *

Meanwhile, Commander Apetrully called a meeting of the animal royalty in Big Green. Cheetah King and Queen came in with concerned faces. Camel King and Peacock queen sat down and waited for the meeting to start. Parrot king was the last to arrive and once he was seated the commander called everyone's attention.

"I have some troubling news. Last night I had a vision about the Yin Yang warriors." Apetrully said. "A battle between Twin Masters and Big Green is coming. We need to recruit more kingdoms before High Roller can."

The kings and queens all started talking at once. Camel King and Baboon King were both started saying they should start recruiting the Howler Monkeys and Flamingos. Peacock Queen started saying they should all secure their own kingdoms for the impending battle. Finally, Parrott King squawked loud enough for the other royals to go quite.

"I know you are all concerned but now is not the time to panic! That is exactly what Twin Masters wants! Panic and disorder! We must keep calm." The king of the parrots said.

"Parrot King is right, if we give into chaos now we'll surely lose the war." Cheetah king said.

The other animal rulers nodded in agreement. "But what about the missing kingdoms? The Panthers, snow leopards, the sloths, and the monkeys? No one has heard from them since High Roller came to power." Goldeneye Husky said.

"I know for a fact that monkeys went into hiding, but as for the others, I have no idea where their allegiances lie." The commander said.

The rulers mumbled among themselves. They came to an agreement to search out their old allies. Peacock Queen would try to contact Wood Pecker King and Hummingbird Queen, while the Cheetahs would search out their fellow big cats with Lion King, Tiger King, and Goldeneye Husky. The only one who didn't have any allies was Jumpy Ghostface. The rabbits had been self-reliant for over two-hundred years at this point.

"Rabbits no have allies," Jumpy said sadly.

"That is okay Jumpy." Commander Apetrully said putting his hand on the rabbit's shoulder. He then turned to the rest of the animals. "I ask you to keep the news about the Ying Yang warriors to yourselves. I don't want the humans of Big Green suspecting each other. Now be on your way."

The animal royals left the room mumbling about the war. Parrot King stayed behind and once everyone was out of the room he looked to the disguised Monkey King. "Do you think you can get your fellow monkeys to fight alongside us?"

"I do not want my subjects in danger, but if need be I will ask them to fight alongside us," Apetrully said sadly.

* * *

Jumpy hopped back to the Frist Squad meeting room deep in thought. If the Ying Yang warriors were real then he suspected they were already in Big Green. He shivered at the thought of meeting the warrior of Yin. It was said he was a fierce fighter and extremely dangerous to his enemies. Yang was considered the more peaceful and kinder of the two. Yang would seek out help but fight alone if need be.

"Jumpy are you okay?" Mr. Nohands asked the lagomorph entered the meeting room.

"Jumpy fine." The rabbit king said.

"Are sure? You seem troubled." Lin Chung observed.

Jumpy felt panic rise in his chest. What was he going to tell his friends? He couldn't lie but he couldn't tell them the truth either. Rabbits were not good at keeping secrets. He bit his tongue to keep himself from shouting out the truth.

"Come on Jumpy, you can tell us anything." Mighty Ray said. "Is it about a girl? Did you catch someone making out?"

"Jumpy no tell! Jumpy made promise!"

Lin Chung put a hand on his shoulder. "Its okay Jumpy, if you promised someone then you don't have to tell us."

Jumpy let out a sigh of relief just as Mystique Sonya and Autumn entered the room.


	3. Legends of the Kingdom

Autumn stepped into the First Squad meeting room and smiled at others. She and Sonya had made some modifications to her dress, making it a bit shorter so it was more of a long shirt than a dress. Sonya had also replaced the skulls with yellow crescent moons. Autumn had put her boots on over the leggings and pulled her long hair into a half ponytail with one of Sonya's hair ribbons. Overall she looked elegant but ready for battle.

"Autumn…. look….. pretty," Jumpy said clapping his paws.

"Thanks, Jumpy," Autumn said with a smile. "Sonya lent me the dress after I had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction."

"What do you mean by wardrobe malfunction?" Mr. Nohands asked curiously.

Autumn rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "I must have grabbed my brother's Blue Dragon gi instead of mine. It happens more time than you think." She laughed.

"Blue Dragon? Do you train with an actual dragon?" Mighty Ray asked.

"Haha… No, it's the name of our dojo. Sensei Shu had been teaching me martial arts there since I could toddle. He says I'm his best student and has even started training me in some more intense martial arts like Capoeira." Autumn explained.

Mighty Ray made a face. "Cat-po-area? Never heard of it."

"Capoeira," Autumn stressed every syllable. "It's a very dangerous form of martial arts that combines fighting and dance and requires constant movement."

"So you're going to dance your enemies into submission?" Mighty ray laughed.

Autumn crossed her arms. "It's a lot more than that." She growled.

"I for one would like to see this fighting style in action." Lin Chung said. "Would you care to demonstrate in the training room?"

Autumn nodded. "I would be honored. Let's go."

The group of six walked to the training room. Autumn looked around the gymnasium-sized room. Over to one side was basic weight training equipment like dumbbells and weights. On the adjacent were some pull up bars and long sticks made of bamboo, staffs if Autumn had to guess. The other two walls were covered in all sorts of weaponry like swords, bow and arrows, darts, a few maces and a pair of black and silver fans. In the middle of the room was a group of green sparing mats, about ten by ten feet. Autumn took off her shoes and stood one side of the mat.

"Who's my opponent?" She asked.

Jumpy stood on the other end. "Jumpy will!"

The female human nodded and approached the center, bowing to her fluffy opponent. Jumpy bowed back. The two then took their battle stances. Jumpy made the first move, using his jump rope as a whip to grab Autumn's wrist. The female grabbed the rope and yanked Jumpy towards her and kicked the rabbit with her right leg, making him let go of the rope.

Autumn then went on the offensive, kicking the rabbit in the ribs. Jumpy managed to dodge and grab his grenades and toss them at Autumn. The human girl dodged most of the carrots but one hit her in the face, making her fall on her back. Jumpy ran at her for the final blow, but Autumn kicked him the clavicle. Jumpy went flying into the back wall. Jumpy got up slowly and went up to Autumn. The rabbit king bowed.

"You win." He said respectfully.

Autumn bowed as well. "You're a really good fighter Jumpy, maybe you could teach me a thing or two."

The other members of First Squad in surprise. Jumpy was one of the strongest fighters in Big Green and Autumn took him down in a matter of minutes. There was something special about this girl if she could take down one of their fiercest fighters.

"Okay, how did she do that?" Mighty Ray asked.

"Easy, I never stopped moving. Capoeira is about constant movement. Even when I was on the ground I kept moving." She says.

"It's an impressive tactic, and you're just now learning it?" Mr. No-Hands asked.

"Yeah but I have a lot to learn," Autumn said. As she said that her legs gave out and she fell on her back. "Like how to keep my legs from giving out after a fight."

"All you need is some more training." Lin Chung said helping her up.

"Perhaps Autumn could train with you in First Squad." Commander Apetrully said as he came in with Autumn's bag. "I saw the whole fight. We would be honored if you joined Big Green."

"You should totally join! It would be great to have another girl on the team!" Sonya said.

"I have to admit, we'd kick twice as much High Roller butt with you on our team." Mighty Ray said.

Autumn looked surprised and didn't know what to say. On one hand, she felt honored to join but on the other, she felt apprehensive. She had only known these people for a day, what would happen if they found out how weird she was? Or what if they all turned on her. She felt her throat start tightening up with panic.

" _BREATH!"_ she shouted in her head.

Autumn took a deep breath and squeaked, "Sure."

The rest of First Squad cheered while Autumn was mentally planning her own funeral.

* * *

"And you mean to tell us that you had a dream about the Yin Yang Warriors and you didn't immediately seek them out?!" Twin Masters yelled at High Roller.

The small human shrunk back. "I-In my defense it-it was the middle night.." High Roller said nervously.

"That shouldn't matter! The warrior of Yin could be our greatest ally! They could be the key to our victory! Go search Hidden Kingdom until you find him!" The physical manifestation of chaos yelled.

"R-Right away sir! B-But what do I look for?"

Twin Masters created a person out of smoke. "Someone who has incredible power and strength. A mortal man pure of heart."

High Roller looked confused. "Why pure of heart? Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of Yin?"

"A pure heart, when corrupted becomes a dangerous weapon. Do you not know the story of Yin and Yang?"

"N-No….."

A black mist surrounded the two. Visons of a man and woman appeared in the mist.

" _A long time ago there was a man who was one of the greatest heroes ever known. He was brave, intelligent, cunning and kind. He fell in love with a woman, his equal in everything."_

The image of the man got closer to the woman and hugged her.

" _The two fought fiercely together until one night, one of their enemies poisoned the woman on the night before their wedding and she died in the man's arms."_

The image changed to the man holding the limp body of his wife and sobbing.

" _He went to a temple and pleaded for the return of his wife's soul but the deity of the temple refused. Little did the man know a wicked demon was listening to their conversion. When the man left the temple the demon approached him, saying he could bring back his love for the price of his pure heart. The man was desperate and agreed to the demon's terms. That night the man went home to find his bride alive and waiting for him._

 _The demon came to the man to collect his payment but the man would not go without a fight. He and his bride fought the demon but it was in vain. The creature of darkness used his dark magic to turn the man's heart dark and cold. He instructed the man to attack his wife. She fled into the woods and went in search of help._

 _Months passed, the demon and his warrior took over most of what is now Hidden Kingdom. The man had succumbed to the darkness in his heart and became a true warrior of evil and had renamed himself, Yin Chen. Then, when they were about to claim absolute victory, the woman, who had changed her name to Yang Kai, appeared with an army of her own and a magical weapon. She told the demon to surrender and there would not be bloodshed._

 _The demon laughed at her and sent his army to attack her. The woman's army was truly a match for the forces darkness but stood no chance against Yin Chen. Yang Kai approached her husband in battle, begging him to return with her. He refused and attacked her._

 _Yang Kai was still his equal, as she had been training under the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. She fought with pure passion and soon the two came to an impasse. Both knew there was only one way to end this fight, one must die. When Yang was catching her breath Yin stabbed her through the heart. As soon as he did the demon's power over him broke and he had seen what he had done. In a blind rage, he attacked the demon, defeating him and destroying his army of darkness._

 _When he returned to his fallen bride he found her still clinging to life. He apologized and begged for her forgiveness. Yang forgave him but died soon after. In his sorrow, Yin committed suicide and the two were berried on the spot with the magical weapon. That spot became a sacred place and soon became lost in legend."_

High Roller let all of that information sink into his tiny walnut sized brain. The only information that stuck that there was a magical weapon out there for the taking.

"Do you understand the importance of finding Yin, High Roller? He will be the key to spreading chaos across Hidden Kingdom! GO!"

The small human bolted out of the cave in a panic and headed towards East Citadel.

* * *

Autumn sat on her bed in her new room. The room was about fifteen by eighteen feet with a green closet on one end and a vanity adjacent to it. The bed had a dark purple comforter, white sheets, and matching pillows. It was a gift from Peacock Queen she received when she went to pick up her clothes.

Peacock Queen and Sheep Queen had made the gi smaller and added a metal chest plate and matching headband. She compared her outfit to one of the ninja gi's she ad seen in ninja Animes. Then the two queens surprised her with more gi's and clothing.

One was black cotton with matching black boots and mask with the symbol for warrior stitched onto the shoulders in red thread. The pants had deep pockets for hiding weapons or medicine and bandages for wounds. The armor was a light steel and stitched into the shirt, sleeves, and collar. The gloves had small metal claws stitched into the tips, probably for scaling walls. The two had explained that this gi was for stealth and sneaking into places.

The second gi was lemon yellow silk with no armor and matching lemon yellow hair ribbon. There were no pockets to put anything. There was a bit of pale tan leather around her wrists and ankles to keep the fabric in place when she ran. There were no gloves or mask but a matching headband with the same symbol on it. This one was made for speed and agility.

The next group of clothing was what looked like a cross between a kimono and a hooter's top with pants and matching boots. The shirt was more of a crop-top with long loose sleeves made of blue silk with red cherry blossom. The pants reminded her skinny jeans fabric and style wise. They complimented her long legs and came with a pair of black shoes. Autumn could not see herself wearing this anytime soon, so she put it deep in her closet.

The next bit of clothing was much more her style. A forming fitting cotton long sleeved white shirt. The pants were similar to her beloved boot cut jeans, same style but these were made of black cotton and felt more like her gi pants. There were a black belt and a jacket with pockets. Autumn liked this outfit the most, it was comfortable and casual, plus she wouldn't have to worry about getting paint on it.

The last article of clothing was a pair of fleece pajamas and slippers. They were pale pink, a color Autumn hatted with a burning passion but she could live with for sleeping.

When she asked the two queens why they were giving her all this they said they felt bad that she only had two sets of clothing with her. They wanted to make sure she was prepared for anything. They reminded Autumn of her mom and grandmother. Sheep Queen was kind and well experienced, like her grandma. Peacock Queen was practical and punctual, like her mom. She had thanked them both for their kindness.

Autumn put the last bit of clothing in her closet when someone knocked on the door. "Come in I guess." She said.

Jumpy came in with some boxes. "Jumpy bring gifts!" He said putting the boxes on the bed. "Open Jumpy's first!"

Autumn opened the box and found some animal plushies, a giraffe, a panda, a monkey, a bear, a whale and a rabbit that looked a lot like Jumpy. There were also some warm blankets and pillows with bamboo trees on them.

"Jumpy these are adorable, thank you." She said.

"Jumpy want Autumn Moon to be comfortable." He said. "Open rest!"

The next one was obviously from Mystique. Autumn open the box to find paper decorations for her walls. She also found nail polish and makeup. Autumn wasn't much of a make-up girl but she appreciated the thought. The next was from Mighty Ray. Inside was a pair of green boxing gloves and a punching bag. She expected nothing less from Mighty Ray. The fourth box was from Mr. No-Hands. It was filled with books, some were on fighting, some were on the history of Hidden Kingdom and the other's were fiction. Autumn suspected that Mr. No-hands wanted her to know as much about Hidden Kingdom as she possibly could.

The last box was from Lin Chung. He had given her paints, paint brushes canvases and about twenty sketchbooks.

"How did he know I like drawing?" Autumn asked the rabbit.

"Drawing book fell out. Lin Chung find." Jumpy explained. "Look in box."

Autumn turned back to the box and found her sketchbook. She hadn't noticed it had fallen out of her bag but she was glad he found it.

There was one last thing in the box. Two metal fans sat innocently on the bottom of the box. Autumn picked them up carefully and examined them. The blades were extremely sharp and beautiful. The handles were painted red and carved with delicate ivy patterns.

"They're beautiful." She mumbled and closed them.

"Autumn….. happy?" Jumpy asked.

"I'm very happy Jumpy."


	4. Raven Castle

Autumn had been at Big Green for three weeks at this point and had settled into a routine of waking up, eating breakfast, training with First Squad, lunch, more training, Chinese lessons with Parrot King, dinner, and then an hour of free time before bed. While she liked being at Big Green she hated not having any time for any of her favorite activities like sketching plants and spending time in the sun. By the time she had free time, it was too dark to get a good look at the plants and even if it was light enough some of the other members of First Squad monopolized her time.

Mighty Ray was always asking to spar. Most of the time it would be Autumn dodging his lightning attacks and whooping his butt. Sure it was fun but it got old really quickly. Yes, the wielder of the magical electrical eyeballs was a good fighter but he was repetitive and that made it easy for Autumn to learn his tactics. She wanted to tell him how predictable he was, but she was scared he would take it the wrong way.

Mystique Sonya was similar. The pale skin girl would invite Autumn for tea and paint their nails together. Autumn had lost count of how many times she had painted her nails. When she suggested they try something else Sonya would take her to talk with Elephant King. As much as she liked hearing the placoderm's stories she found them really long-winded and boring. Again she didn't hurt anyone's feelings so she kept her mouth shut.

Jumpy wasn't as bad. The two mainly played darts or race each other, with Autumn always coming in second. She didn't really mind that at all, she had no problem what so ever loosing to someone more experienced. What she minded was how much Jumpy shed! Her clothes were always covered in rabbit fur. She thanked God she wasn't allergic to rabbit fur or else she'd be sneezing all the time.

"Gah!" Autumn yelled and threw her book on her bed.

She couldn't even enjoy her book she was so frustrated. "Why can't just tell them what I think?!" she yelled and threw herself face first into the bed. "What am I going to do….?"

Just as she said that someone knocked on her door. "Come in…." She mumbled into her comforter.

The door opened and Snake King came. The serpentine ruler was one of the few animals she had befriended by herself. The two shared a love of horror books, scary stories and both had a hard time speaking their minds. Snake King was even teaching her snake so they can communicate better. Autumn had learned that their langue was actually called parseltongue, just like in Harry Potter

" _Is something wrong my friend?"_ he asked in parseltongue.

"I'm fine… Just….Frustrated!" she groaned.

" _I understand my friend. How about we go see Samo Whale?" he suggested._

"I would if I could but I have training and Apetrully is going on a diplomatic mission to Raven Castle we're probably going to have to save him. On the bright side, it'll be my first mission." Autumn said.

* * *

Apetrully walked up to Raven Castle with a large sum of gold as perusal. As he walked he noticed the humans surrounded all had their mouths gagged as they did their everyday business. This struck him as odd but he forgot all about it as soon as he came to the entrance of Raven Castle.

Raven Castle was made of dark blue stones and the main building was a large dome with six towers surrounding it. To the left of the castle was a group of tall pine trees and to the right was a large pond with many lily pads and flowers in it.

The inside was decorated with elegant tapestries hanging from the ceiling and paintings of the raven's conquests covered the walls. The floor was black volcanic obsidian, polished to reflect like a mirror. Dark gray ravens guarded every entrance and exist, making the chances of escape very slim. This did not worry Apetrully, he was confident he could get Raven King and Queen to join Big Green without a fight.

Said birds were sitting on two thrones. Raven Queen had dark violet feathers with black talons. On her neck was some sort of amulet. Raven King had midnight blue feathers with dark gray talons. Both had dark green eyes and back beaks.

"Mysterious and strong Raven King and Queen, I am Commander Apetrully of Big Green. I offer you gold in exchange for peace between your kind and the humans." The disguised Monkey King said holding up the gold.

"Humans are nothing but filthy liars and cheats! All they want is to steal from us and rob us blind!" Raven King spat.

"Four the past four months humans have been sneaking into our castle and stealing our treasure! When we find our treasure in their homes they have the gall to lie to our faces and say they don't know how it got there, but have since solved the lying problem." Raven Queen said holding up her amulet. "This amulet forces anyone hit with it to speak nothing but the truth."

Apetrully felt a sense of panic and tried to back out of the room, only for to be grabbed by two guards. The queen pointed and shot a beam of dark green magic at the commander. Apetrully screamed in fear.

"Now, tell me 'commander' how do you call First Squad?" Raven King asked.

"The umbrella on the top of my head. When it gets flipped up it sends a signal to a receiver in Big Green that then activates an alarm in First Squad's meeting room!" Apetrully blurted out.

One of the guards flipped the little umbrella up, sending the single to First Squad.

* * *

Autumn walked into the squad room in her blue gi with her fans at her side as soon as the alarm went off.

"Commander Apetrully is in trouble! First Squad, deploy!" Mr. No-Hands yelled.

Autumn smirked and jumped down her tube. The tubes reminded her of those water slides where they drop the floor out from under you. Soon she landed on her turtle and were soon rolling out of Big Green.

"Excited for your first mission Autumn?" Sonya asked.

"Yeah, but I'm a little nervous too. The only time I've ever fought, other than in spars, was when I was nine, and I'm not even sure you could call it that." Autumn said.

"What happened?" Lin Chung asked.

"There was this boy in my class who kept stealing everyone's toys and snacks. He tried to steal my Hello Kitty doll and I bit him. We got called to the teacher's desk for fighting." Autumn explained. "But after that, he never tried stealing from us again."

"Autumn….bit bully?" Jumpy asked.

"I was nine okay?"

The rest of the journey was traveled in silence after that.

When they got to Raven Castle they hid behind some large rocks.

"Autumn stay here." Lin Chung ordered.

Autumn was surprised. "Why?"

"Because you're still new at this. It's best to play it safe."

Autumn made a face. She didn't like sitting out this mission. Not only did this leave her vulnerable to an attack, but it also left them one fighter short. Lin Chung did have a point. She was new to this and who knows how this would go for her.

"Alright, I'll stay back. But if anything happens to you guys I'm going in after you." Autumn says.

The gray haired fighter nodded. The rest of First Squad went into Raven Castle, leaving Autumn with the turtles.

"Be safe guys." She mumbled.

The original members of First Squad walked through the magnificent castle. They were all in awe of the absolute majesty of the castle's interior. Lin Chung gazed in amazement at the detailed paintings. As much as he wanted to stop and admire the paintings, they were here to save Apetrully. He also didn't want to leave Autumn alone any longer than need.

Lin Chung felt butterflies in his stomach at the thought of their newest member and wasn't sure why. In the past three weeks, he had caught himself staring at her during training and at meals. Whenever he tried to paint he found himself painting Autumn instead, even when it was something unrelated to her, like a bowl of fruit. It was driving him crazy. Earlier that day he went to Cheetah King and Queen for advice.

* * *

 **Flashback….**

* * *

Lin Chung knocked respectfully on the cheetah's door. Cheetah Queen opened the door and smiled at Lin Chung.

"Lin Chung! Please come in." She said. "Is something on your mind?"

"I was wondering if you and Cheetah King could help me with a problem." Lin Chung said.

"What's the problem?" Cheetah King asked as the three sat down.

"You two have met Autumn Moon, correct?" Lin Chung asked.

"Yes. We caught her sparing with Mighty Ray the other night. She's a fantastic fighter and very beautiful." The female cheetah pointed out.

"That's kind of the problem." The human said.

"I don't understand, is she too good of a fighter? Has she been making the others feel inferior, or perhaps being too cocky for her own good?" the male cheetah asked.

"No, not at all. Autumn's been an amazing addition to the team. She's brave, intelligent, strong, free spirted, beautiful and kind." Lin Chung said with a blush. "The problem is I can't get her out of my head! All I think about is her. I'm worried about when she gets her first mission. What if she got hurt or worse?"

The two big cats looked at each other and shared a knowing look. Cheetah King went behind the gray haired teen and put his paw on his shoulder.

"I think I know what's wrong. You have a crush on her." The king said.

Lin Chung felt his face heat up and fought the urge to cover his face with his hands. "What makes you think that?"

"You described her beautiful and you worry about her well being. That sounds like a crush to me." The queen said.

The gray haired teen had to force himself to blush.

"If you want my advice, wait a while before acting on your feelings for her. You've only known her for a short time. If your feelings develop further then ask her out, if they don't then its just infatuation, not love." Cheetah King advised.

* * *

 **End of Flashback...  
**

* * *

The four heroes reached the throne room to find Raven King and Queen standing in front of them.

"We've been waiting for you First Squad." Raven King said.

"Tell us where Commander Apetrully is!" Lin Chung demanded.

"He is over there unharmed. See for yourself." The queen gestured to the commander.

Apetrully was tied up and gagged in the corner, but unharmed.

Sonya ran over to the Commander and ungagged him. "Commander are you okay?" She asked.

"IT'S A TRAP!" The commander yelled.

Raven guards suddenly dropped from the celling, catching all of First Squad off guard. This made their defeat rather swift. Soon they were all tied up next to Apetrully.

Raven Queen took her amulet and shot the four heroes with the green magic.

"What did you do to us?!" Mighty Ray yelled.

"They made you unable to lie and make you blurt out the truth," Apetrully said.

Lin Chung felt panicked, and it must have shown on his face because Raven King looked directly at him.

"Is there something you would like to say human?" He smirked.

Lin Chung used all of his self-restraint to keep himself from blurting out his feeling for Autumn, but it was useless against the queen's magic.

"I have a crush on Autumn!" he blurted.

The other member's of Big Green looked at him in surprise. Lin Chung wanted nothing more than to disappear at the moment. His face burned crimson in embarrassment. The raven's magic was truly powerful, their only hope now as Autumn

* * *

Autumn poked her head out from behind the rock.

"It's been an hour, I'm going in after them." She said to the turtles. "If I'm not back in an hour go get reinforcements."

The turtles nodded. Autumn grabbed her fans and ran stealthily into the castle. She hid behind columns to avoid being seen by the guards and slowly made her way towards the throne room. As she did so she noticed a large sum of faded spots on the walls where paintings once hung. She stopped in front of one of the empty spots and found two sets of hoof prints. That stuck her as odd. Raven had talons, not hooves. This made no sense.

Autumn shook her head and headed down the hall. She poked her head around a corner and saw her friends tied up with Yaksha covering their mouths. Autumn ran in with her fans opened.

"Let them go!" She yelled.

"Ravens, attack!" the king yelled.

Soon Autumn was surrounded by six raven guards. They tried to grab her, but the young fighter skillfully dodged and kicked the large birds down. One of the guards grabbed her arms, forcing them back in an extremely painful way. Autumn growled and stepped on his foot, making him let her go. She took the advantage and kicked him into a near by pillar.

One of the other ravens shot its feathers like arrows at her. Autumn doges, but one managed to graze her gi, leaving a small rip. Autumn gulped, those feathers could cut through her like a hot knife through butter. Another volley of feathers was launched at her, this time she deflected them with her fans.

" _I need something to stun them."_ Autumn thought.

She looked above her and saw a large green velvet tapestry that was hung by a silver rope.

"That'll work." She smirked.

She used her fan like a boomerang, cutting the rope and making it fall on the raven guards, trapping them under the heavy fabric.

The two raven royals backed away from the human girl. Raven Queen shot at Autumn with the truth amulet, but the human girl deflected back with her fans. The magic hit the amulet, making it shatter like glass. A blue magic began to drift out of the pieces and out the windows and towards First Squad and Commander Apetrully. Yaksha uncovered their mouths and began to untie them.

"Thanks, Autumn." Mystique Sonya said.

"You're welcome. What did they do to you guys anyway?" she asked.

"They use that amulet to force us to reveal our secrets. Luckily we didn't say anything too embarrassing." Lin Chung said.

"Well, there was one thing. Lin Chung said-" Mighty Ray started to say, only for Yaksha to cover his mouth with its arms.

Autumn looked at the royal birds.

"Your highnesses, what gave you the idea it was okay to make humans blurt out their secrets like that? We have secrets for a reason." Autumn asked with her arms crossed.

"We were tired of humans lying to us. We just wanted the truth! We didn't mean to hurt anyone." Raven King said honestly.

"We would never lie to anyone to gain an ally, and I'll even take some sort of lie detector test to prove it." The brunette said.

The ravens look at each other. "Alright, while the amulet of truth is broken it can still be used as a lie detector. If it turns green, then you are telling the truth, if it turns red, then you're lying." The queen said.

Autumn nodded in understanding. "Ask me anything."

"Alright, question one: What is your name?" The king asked.

"Autumn Lilly Moon."

The shards turned green.

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

They turned green again.

"What are your intentions with our people?"

"All we intend is peace between all animals and humans."

They turned green one final time.

The king and queen bowed in shame. "We are sorry for attacking you and your friends, we wish to join Big Green and work to repair that damage we have done." Raven Queen said.

Autumn smiled and held out her hand to shake Raven Kings when she heard the sound of hooves on stone flooring. She ran into the corridor and found Sparky Black and Sparky White stealing paintings off the walls.

"Stop you, thieves!" Autumn called out.

The Zebra Brothers froze until they saw Raven King and Queen come up behind Autumn.

"Your majesties! W-We were just putting back this painting back that this evil human stole!" Sparky White said.

The shards of the amulet turned a dark angry red. "Ravens, attack!" The king yelled.

The two brothers dropped the painting and ran for their lives.

* * *

Back at Big Green, Commander Apetrully announced that Raven King and Queen would act as the new heads of security for Big Green.

As a symbol of peace, Raven Queen took two of her feather's and turned them into knives for Autumn.

"Thank you, your highness." Autumn bowed in thanks.

"It's nothing sweetie." The queen said and walked away.

Autumn turned to her friends. "Now, what did Lin Chung say about me?" She asked.

"Just that he's glad to have you on the team," Sonya said. "So how about we go do each other's nails now?"

"Or how about we spar?" Mighty Ray suggested as he punched the air.

Autumn sighed and gave a small smile. "After this whole thing about honesty guys, there's something I need to tell you. Mystique Sonya as much as I like our girl time, I'm not really into make-up, Mighty Ray your really predicable when we spar, and Jumpy, you have a shedding problem. You might want to get that checked out. I just need time to myself."

"Why not tell us this before?" Jumpy asked.

"I didn't want to hurt your feelings. I wanted you to like me." She confessed.

Mystique Sonya hugged her. "You should have told us sooner. From now we'll stop taking up your time and try doing things you like doing."

"Thanks, guys. And you know what I feel like doing now?" Autumn asked.

"What?" Her three friends asked.

"I feel like getting a snack!" she laughed.


	5. Lamprey King I

" _First Squad attack!" Lin Chung ordered._

 _First Squad was locked in a fierce battle with High Roller's chameleon tank army. I had started out as routine patrol mission between Camel Castle and the Steep Cliffs when they were ambushed by High Roller. Mighty Ray blasted the chameleons with his eyeballs, but it had no effect. Mystique Sonya tried to use her tongue to blow the tanks away but the Zebra brothers managed to tie it into one big not. Jumpy was soon tied up with his own jump rope and Lin Chung ran out of ammunition. Autumn's fans and knives were lost somewhere on the battlefield._

 _Autumn was suddenly grabbed by the Zebra brothers and forced to watch as her friends were forced towards the edge of the cliffs._

" _This will be the end of you, Frist Losers!" High Roller laughed._

" _NO!" Autumn yelled._

 _Her friends were soon forced off the edge and plummeted to their deaths._

"NO!" Autumn screamed at the top of her lungs as she bolted straight up in her bed.

Autumn took deep breaths and looked around. She was in her bedroom in Big Green, not on a battlefield. There was no tank army, there were no cliffs and there was no danger. She laid back down and covered her face with her hands. She had been having the same nightmare for the past four nights.

Autumn got up and went to the bathroom and splashed some cold water in her face. She looked like crap, her hair was all over the place and she had bags forming under her eyes from the lack of sleep. Judging by the dark sky it was very early in the morning. The only ones up at this point were the more nocturnal members of Big Green and maybe Lin Chung.

Autumn decided to head to the training room. As long as she was up she might as well get some training in. She walked slowly down the hall towards the training room.

Autumn soon found herself in the training room and began to run laps around the room.

"Must not fall asleep, must not fall asleep…" She repeated as she ran laps.

* * *

Lin Chung walked back to his room after a early morning ammunition run. He had left sometime around four and it was now six thirty, about thirty minutes before anyone else woke up. As he passed the training room he heard someone… snoring? He poked his head in and found Autumn asleep on the mats. The girl was curled into a ball and by the look on her face, her dream was not a pleasant one.

"Autumn.." Lin Chung said softly had he shook her shoulder.

The brunette did not wake.

"Autumn, wake up." He said a bit louder and shook her a bit harder.

Autumn suddenly punched him in the nose. Lin Chung fell back out of shock and touched his nose. There was a bit of blood but not much.

"Get away from me!" Autumn yelled and stood up. Her eyes were closed, Lin Chung noticed.

" _She must be sleep-fighting."_ Lin Chung realized. "Autumn, it's me, Lin Chung! I don't want to hurt you!"

"Leave me alone!" she yelled and swung at him.

Lin Chung dodged her attacks. Even in her sleep Autumn was still a fierce fighter, but even so, he didn't want to hurt her.

"Autumn wake up! You're having a nightmare!" He yelled as he moved away from her.

He took his staff and swept her feet from out from beneath her. Autumn fell on her back but sprung back up and landed a kick on Lin Chung's abdomen, knocking the breath out of him. As he recovered, Autumn took the advantage and flipped him. She pinned him with her foot and took his own staff, pointing it at his head.

"Any last words scum?" She growled.

 _ **Kerpla**_! A blue tongue wrapped around Autumn's wrist.

"What in the name of bananas is going on here?!" Apetrully yelled as he ran in with the rest of First Squad and Woo the Wise.

"Autumn's having a nightmare and sleep fighting! Don't hurt her!" Lin Chung explained as he got away.

"I got her!" Mighty Ray yelled. He took out a banana and ate it. He gagged and started charging his eyes. "I am Mighty Ray! FEAR MY EYEBALLS!" the short warrior yelled as he shot lightning at Autumn. The female fighter dodged and tried to attack him. Jumpy used his rope to grab her other wrist. Woo and Mr. No-Hands took one of the extra ropes and tied Autumn up with it.

Jumpy and Mystique Sonya let go of Autumn as Lin Chung approached her.

"Let me go you zebras!" She yelled

"Zebras? What is she dreaming about?" Sonya asked.

Lin Chung put his hand on Autumn's shoulder and summoned some of his Harmonic energy. For a breath moment, he was in Autumn's dream. He saw Autumn being tied up by the Zebra brothers and forced to watch as her friends were forced off a cliff. Autumn started crying and soon woke up, still crying.

"Autumn … okay?" Jumpy asked.

"I don't think so Jumpy." He said. "Autumn, its okay, we're here. Everyone's okay."

Autumn looked up at her leader and then at the others. "You guys are okay….?" She asked still crying.

Mighty Ray and Apetrully untied her. Autumn started to fall so Jumpy grabbed her arm and let her use him as a crutch and hugged her with his other arm.

"We….. okay…" Jumpy reassured.

"What happened? The last thing I remembered was running laps and closing my eyes for a second." She asked, dazed.

"You were trying to kill Lin Chung in your sleep and you would have been successful if we hadn't stepped in," Apetrully said. "What were you dreaming about?"

"You….. You guys…. High Roller killed you guys…." Autumn mumbled and started crying.

It pained Lin Chung to see Autumn cry. He needed to find the cause of this before it got worse.

* * *

That night Lin Chung, Jumpy and Mighty Ray all took turns watching Autumn as she slept. Mystique Sonya was asleep. She had stated one of them needed to be well rested.

For the first three hours, nothing happened. Then once midnight hit a blood-curdling scream rang through the halls of Big Green, except it wasn't Autumn who screamed.

"That sounded like it came from Mystique Sonya's room!" Mighty Ray said.

"Jumpy, stay here and watch over Autumn." Lin Chung said as he and Mighty Ray ran to the other girl's room.

Mystique Sonya was thrashing around in her bed she kept screaming and calling out for help. Yaksha sat helplessly in the corner.

"No! No!" The pale skinned girl cried out.

"Mystique Sonya, wake up!" Lin Chung said as he grabbed her shoulders.

Just as he did, something long, black and slimy came off of Sonya's neck. The two guys jumped back as the slimy thing hissed at them and slithered down the hall.

"Not them!" Mystique Sonya yelled shooting up in her bed. "W-What? What happened? And why does my neck hurt?"

Mystique Sonya had a circular bite mark on the side of her neck. Whatever that thing was, it seemed to leave a pretty distinctive mark.

"JUMPY!" Autumn yelled from down the hall.

The three fighters ran back to Autumn's room to find Jumpy Ghost face attacking Autumn in his sleep, much like how Autumn had attacked Lin Chung earlier that day. Jumpy turned to face them. The rabbit king had one of the slimy things attached to his neck, just like Sonya did.

"Yaksha! Stop Jumpy!" Sonya yelled at her sentient headwear.

Yaksha jumped off its owner's head and wrapped itself around Jumpy, stopping him from lashing out at his friends. Autumn grabbed the slimy intruder and yanked it off of the rabbit king's neck and shoved it into a glass vase. Jumpy woke with a yelp rubbed his neck.

"Jumpy's neck hurt!" the rabbit complained.

Everyone gathered around the unwelcomed guest. It opened its mouth and showed dozens of sharp pointy teeth.

"What is it?" Sonya asked

"I….. was going to say what going to say the unholy offspring of Hell and Death, but that would be offensive to death." Mighty Ray said.

"I think it's a lamprey," Autumn said. "Their small parasitic eels that drink blood from their prey. But what's one doing in my room?"

"Simple my tasty morsel, we lamprey feed of the nightmares of humans that we cause! Twin Masters promised us all the nightmares we could eat if we took down Big Green." The Lamprey said. "First, our king attached himself to your newest member, then we slowly began to climb our way up the top and soon all of Big Green will die of fright!"

Autumn tilted her neck and showed four lamprey bite marks. "That's why I've been having the same nightmare!" she said. "Wait, did he say die?!"

When they looked back at the patristic eel, they found it had escaped. They started to search Autumn's room but did not find it anywhere.  
"It must have escaped into the hall!" Mystique Sonya said.

They ran into the hall and began looking around in the other room. Mighty Ray found himself in Lion King's room. There was no sign of any lamprey, but there was a perfect pranking victim. The short fighter took out a marker and began drawing a mustache on the sleeping king's face. As soon as the marker touched the lion's face, Mighty Ray realized he wasn't breathing.

"Oh no," he said.

* * *

Mystique Sonya went into Peacock Queen's room and looked around.

"See anything Yaksha?" she asked quietly.

The pink hat pointed to the sleeping queen. Sonya went up to the queen and found her as cold as ice.

"Yaksha… is-is she….?" Mystique Sonya asked with tears in her eyes.

The pink hat nodded sadly and wrapped its arms around its owner in a big hug.

* * *

First Squad met up in the kitchen, each of them looking upset. Lin Chung was holding Autumn close to him as she sobbed.

"S-Snake King…. The ravens…. Commander Apetrully… They're all dead!" Autumn cried.

"Lion King…. I just hope he didn't suffer…." Mighty Ray said looking at the floor with his hands curled into fists.

"Peacock Queen is….. gone too. Sonya said whipping her eyes.

"Cheetahs… gone too….. Jumpy scared…" Jumpy said.

Lin Chung felt grief and anger swell within him. How _**dare**_ Twin Masters and the lamprey do this to their friends.

"They _**will**_ be avenged, even if it means going to extremes," he said while growling.

The rest of First Squad nodded.

"I *sniff* have a plan… but you guys aren't going to like it…." Autumn said.

* * *

"Autumn, are you sure you want to do this?" Sonya asked.

They were all gathered in Autumn's room, all feeling like they were attending a funeral.

"I have too. If… something goes wrong… Just… make sure I'm not forgotten, okay?" Autumn said as she laid down in her bed and fell asleep.

Their plan was to use Autumn as bait to attract Lamprey king and trap him. They would each take turns standing watch while the others slept.

Mighty Ray went first, then Jumpy Ghost-Face, next Mystique Sonya and finally Lin Chung. The gray-haired fighter walked around the room, trying to keep himself awake when he noticed something was off about Autumn's room. The paintings were upside down and Autumn's blankets were green instead of purple.

"Something's not right." He mutters to himself.

When he turned around he found that he was no longer in Autumn's room, now he was in the meeting room with Lamprey King.

"So you figured it out." The parasite said.

"This is all one big nightmare, isn't it?" He growled.

The king smirked vanished.

Lin Chung suddenly felt a sharp pain in his neck.

* * *

Outside in the real world, the rest of Frist Squad was fighting off the lamprey in Lamprey castle while searching for Lin Chung.

" _ **Kerpla!**_ There's too many of them!" Mystique Sonya said as she used her tongue to toss the lamprey.

"We can't stop fighting!" Autumn said deflecting them with her fans. "Mighty Ray behind you!"

Mighty Ray dodged the eels. "I hate to say this but we might need to call for reinforcements."

"Not until we find Lin Chung," Autumn said. She looked around and saw an unguarded passage. "Over there!"

The five fighters ran for the passage. Mighty Ray blasted the archway, closing it off. They all took that time to catch their breaths.

"Jumpy tired….." Jumpy said as he sat down.

Autumn handed the rabbit some water from her bag which the rabbit happily took.

" _This would be a lot easier if we had Lin Chung…"_ Autumn thought.

Soon the five members of First Squad were back on their feet and continued down the dark stone passage. Mighty Ray led the way, using his eyes as flashlights. Autumn took up the rear and carried Lin Chung's staff in her hand. She felt responsible for his kidnapping.

The two of them had gone into the Bamboo Forest for some painting practice, so they both had their guards down. It was starting to get hot so Autumn suggested they go for a swim in the nearby river. After a few minutes of swimming something pull Autumn under the water. The Lamprey King and his soldiers we trying to pull her downstream. Lin Chung was able to pull her away and get her to shore, but then they attacked him and dragged him downstream. Autumn had tried to follow on land but was too slow and eventually lost them.

"Something's up ahead." Mighty Ray said, snapping Autumn out of her thoughts.

They came to a large room with no other doors or windows. In the middle of the room was a large circular pond. In the middle of the pond was an island and on that island was an unconscious Lin Chung.

"Lin Chung!" They cried and ran towards the pond.

Yaksha used its arms to make a bridge over to their unconscious leader. Suddenly Lin Chung stood up and spoke in a voice that was not his.

" **So this is the rest of the famous First Squad. The way Twin Masters spoke about you I was expecting something more impressive."** The voice said.

"We know it's you, Lamprey King!" Autumn growled. "Stop possessing our friend and fight like a man!"

" **I don't think I will. Once Lin Chung's heart gives out from fear I'll possess this body forever!"**

The parasitic eel used Lin Chung to attack the rest of First Squad. His movements were slow and awkward, it was like he didn't have full control of Lin Chung's body. However, the Lamprey King was still a very impressive fighter.

"Lin Chung! I don't know if you can hear me but you need to fight him!" Autumn yelled as she dodged a kick.

"Maybe you can shock him awake Mighty Ray!" Sonya said.

Jumpy threw Mighty Ray a banana from Autumn's bag. The round warrior pinched his nose and swallowed the banana.

"I AM MIGHTY RAY! FEAR MY EYEBALLS!" Mighty Ray yelled and blasted his friend's body with electricity.

" _ **A**_ _Gh…_ **"** The king screamed.

Autumn kicked their possessed friend to the ground. "Aim for the king himself and not Lin Chung!" Autumn said.

Mighty Ray blasted the king off of their friend with his lightning. The Lamprey King shirked and released Lin Chung. The parasite squirmed around on the ground.

"This is not the last you'll see of me." The king hissed and launched himself into the pond.

Autumn ignored the words of the king and went over to her fallen friend and checked his pulse.

"I got a pulse, its faint, but its there. We need to get back to base so Lin Chung can rest." Autumn said.

* * *

A few days passed and Lin Chung had still not woken up and Autumn hadn't left his side. She hadn't slept much and hadn't eaten. She put her hand on his and sighed.

"I'm not sure if you can hear me, but I wanted to thank you for saving my life… It was my fault you got hurt…. I'm sorry…" She said and placed a small kiss on his lips. "I love you."

Autumn didn't see it but there was a small spark of harmonic energy when their lips touched. That spark was just the thing to awaken her friend.

Lin Chung slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Autumn standing over him.

"Autumn…" He said weakly.

"Lin Chung!" Autumn hugged him with all the strength she could muster. "I'm so glad you're okay! ….. You didn't hear any of that, did you?"

Lin Chung smiled. "I heard all of it, and I love you too." He said kissing her.

Autumn returned the kiss. It felt like pure bliss to the two of them.

"I think we walked in at the wrong time." Someone said behind them.

The two looked at the door and saw Cheetah King and Queen. The two blushed and pull away from each other.

"How much did you see?" Lin Chung asked.

"Enough to tell Ox King and Peacock Queen they lost the bet." The king of the cheetahs said. "We've been wondering when you two would finally get together."

"We betted that Autumn would make the first move. You two make the cutest couple in Big Green." The Cheetah queen said.

Lin Chung look at Autumn. "Would you like to be my girlfriend."

Autumn blushed. "Only if you'll be my boyfriend."

"Deal."


	6. First Date

Lin Chung was off of bed rest after a few days, and anytime he wasn't training he was with Autumn. All of Big Green was happy for the couple and the word even spread outside of Big Green to their allies. Of course, if their allies new at this point, so did their enemies.

When Twin Master's heard, they were not pleased. The power of love was just another form of Harmonic Energy and that was the last thing they needed at this point.

"If we are to defeat Big Green then we must make sure Lin Chung is powerless and that means we must destroy everything he loves." Twin Masters said to the animals he had summoned.

Mustang King whinnied and stomped on the ground in anger. He had a dark red coat and black main with black hooves and was around eight feet tall when standing on his back hooves (only about six feet when he was on all fours). The king hated humans and wanted nothing more than their destruction.

Jackal King howled in agreement. The Jackal King was much smaller that Mustang King, only about five feet tall when standing and four feet when on all fours. He had sandy colored fur and black eyes. The humans had destroyed his people's homes and build their homes over them. He wanted all humans dead.

Twin Masters used his chaotic energy to make the two animal kings stronger, bigger and fiercer than before. "Now with the powers, I have given you go destroy Lin Chung and his little girlfriend!"

* * *

Autumn walked down to the Big Green docks with Snake King and Dog King. The three of them were meeting Raven Queen so they could all hang out. The four of them had all become good friends in the short time Autumn had been at Big Green. Dog King and Autumn shared a wild side that no one else understood and she and Raven Queen shared a love of mysteries and myths.

"So how are you and Lin Chung doing?" Dog King asked.

"Pretty good. Whenever we're not training or with the others were together, enjoying each other's company." Autumn said as she walked.

"Have you two gone on your first date yet?" Snake King asked.

Autumn rubbed the back of her neck. "Not exactly. Whenever we try to plan something, something comes along and we have to cancel."

"What's this about something being canceled?" Raven Queen asked once they got down to the dock.

"Its nothing, its just Lin Chung and I haven't had a proper first date yet and it's making me mad. I just one date where we don't have to worry about being called away on a mission or something." Autumn said.

The three royals felt bed for their human friend and were determined to help her out.

* * *

Later that day the Autumn was pulled into a room suddenly.

"Hey!" She yelps.

Soon she found herself in a jade green keipo (Chinese dress) her long hair pulled into a French braid and dark green eyeshadow put on her eyes.

"What the hell?" Autumn said.

She turned around and found Raven Queen and Mystique Sonya smiling at her. As she was about to ask why they had forcibly dressed her when Yaksha suddenly expanded and wrapped around her like a sack.

"Hey! Let me go!" she yelled.

"Nope!" Sonya said as she and Raven Queen carried her away.

* * *

Mighty Ray, Dog King and Snake King where waiting for the girls in the Orchid Forest an hour before sunset.

"Took you two long enough." Mighty Ray said with his arms crossed.

"Autumn put up a fight halfway here." Mystique Sonya said as Yaksha released the redhead.

Autumn put her hands on hips and scowled. "What's the big idea shanghaiing me like this?!" She growled.

"We planned a date for you and Lin Chung. Here." Mystique Sonya said shoving a picnic basket into her arms. "There's a meteor shower in one hour and Lin Chung will be here in twenty minutes. There are a blanket, food, and drinks in there. Have fun!"

Just like that Autumn was left alone with the basket and a turtle.

"What just happened?"

* * *

Up in the trees, the group of five watched Autumn as she waited for her boyfriend.

"Do you think we should be spying on them?" Dog King asked.

"We're not spying, we're observing." Raven Queen says.

"And we're the first line of protection, just in case something decided to attack them." Mystique Sonya added.

"I just hope they don't get attacked." Snake king said.

"Shh! Here comes Lin Chung!" Mighty Ray shushed.

Autumn turned around and saw her boyfriend and blushed darkly. He wore black traditional Chinese formal wear and forgone his hat and pulled his hair back into a loose ponytail.

"You look beautiful Autumn." He said.

"Hot... I mean you look hot. I mean you look nice too!" Autumn squeaked nervously.

He smiled and kissed her cheek and walked with her to a nearby clearing. The two of them set up the blanket and took out the food the others had packed for them. Autumn took out the fried rice and cooked vegetables. Lin Chung took out a bottle of apple cider and two glasses.

 _"Wow, those guys thought of everything."_ Autumn thought as she took out some bright red strawberries.

"Is that everything?" Autumn asked.

Lin Chung pulled out a note.

" _Have fun- Your friends"_ He read out loud. "I think that's everything."

"Good," Autumn said and leaned in and kissed the gray-haired teen. Lin Chung kissed back and pulled her close. She wrapped her arms around him and the two enjoyed being in each other's arms.

As the two kissed Mustang King and Jackal King approached the happy couple. The two kings were twice their size and glowing red and blue with chaotic energy. Before they could reach the two, they were stopped by the others members of the date protection squad (Mighty Ray came up with the name.).

"You two are not ruining this date." Raven Queen said.

The Mustang King charged at them while Jackal King began to suck in air and blew a huge gust of air at the three animals and two humans.

"Hold onto something!" Snake King said as he wrapped his body around a tree.

Raven Queen took off into the air to dodge the angry horse. Unfortunately, Dog King and Mighty Ray were not as lucky and got bulldozed. Mystique Sonya used her tongue to try to blow back the large dog, only to be blown back.

"We need to get them away from Lin Chung and Autumn!" Dog King barked.

Mustang King started charging towards the happy couple. Suddenly, Mighty Ray launched himself into the air and landed on the raging horse. He grabbed the red horse's black mane and pulled him away from his friends and towards another clearing.

"YE-HAW! Ride 'em, cowboy!" Mighty Ray yelled.

"Mighty Ray jump!" Raven Queen yelled.

The small human jumped into the air in time to avoid being hit by Jackal King.

Snake King launched himself from his perch and wrapped around the dazed kings, hoping to keep them restrained long enough for the others to try to figure out a solution.

"Who wants to bet this is Twin Master's work?" Mighty Ray asked.

"If it is we might need to get Lin Chung, he's the only one who can reverse this," Sonya said.

Raven Queen looked back at the way they came. She felt bad for interrupting her friends' date. The queen looked up at the sky and saw the start of the meteor shower. Suddenly an idea struck her.

"Snake King let them go! I have a plan!" she yelled. "Mystique Sonya, Mighty Ray go back to Big Green! We got this!"

The two humans nodded and ran off.

"You sure we got this?!" Dog king asked.

"Trust me I know what I'm doing." The female raven said. "Just keep them distracted!"

Snake King let the two chaos infused kings go and they began to attack their fellow leaders. Dog King growled and tackled them. Mustang King and Jackal King didn't like that and began chasing the human dressed as a dog.

Raven Queen grabbed Snake King with her talons and shot into the air. They got so high that everyone looked like ants. Snake king rolled himself into a ball and Raven Queen began to dive down.

"Ready?!" She yelled to the snake.

"Ready!" the snake yelled as he tucked his head into the ball.

Raven Queen lunched him at Jackal and Mustang King, who was cornering Dog King. The snake hit the two chaotic animals with so much force it knocked them out cold. Snake king slowly unraveled himself.

"I did it!" He said dizzily and then passed out.

Dog King sniffed his friend. "He's okay. I think."

* * *

Lin Chung and Autumn watched the meteor shower, totally oblivious of the danger that they were just in. Autumn snuggled up to her boyfriend as she watched the sky.

"It is so amazing how something as simple as a space rock could make something so beautiful," Autumn said.

"I would say its almost as beautiful as you." Lin Chung said while smiling at her.

Autumn blushed which made her boyfriend laugh. Autumn playfully pushed him away. Lin Chung pushed back and soon they were playfully wrestling. Lin Chung pinned Autumn to the ground and smiled. The redhead laughed.

"Alright, you win! Here's your prize." Autumn said and kissed him on the lips.

Lin Chung kissed back and smiled. No matter what they were doing, he enjoyed their time together.

Suddenly they heard a growl from nearby.

"You hear that?" Autumn asked.

"Yeah, and I think I know what it was too." Lin Chung said. "Stay here."

Autumn sighed as her boyfriend walked away. She liked how noble Lin Chung was, but she annoyed that he was always trying to protect her. No, wait it didn't annoy her, it made her mad! She wasn't a damsel in distress and didn't need protecting.

"That's it, I'm following him." She said and ran after him.

* * *

Raven Queen had finished tying up the two rough kings when Lin Chung showed up.

"Lin Chung! You're supposed to be on a date with Autumn!" Dog King said.

"I sensed something wrong, but it looks like you have it handled." Lin Chung said seeing the two kings tied up.

"Yeah, we do. Go back to your date." Snake King said.

"But-"

"GO!" The three of them yelled.

Lin Chung turned back and ran back to their picnic, but Autumn wasn't there. He began to look for her in a panic while calling her name.

"Autumn?!" he yelled as he ran through the woods. "AUTUMN!"

He leaped onto a tree branch to get a better view. Using his panther vision he was able to spot Autumn wandering the woods. He jumped from branch to branch until he landed next to her.

"Autumn are you okay?" he asked.

"I find… Just mad." She huffed.

"Mad? Mad about what?"

"Mad that you keep trying to protect me! I'm not the same newbie that showed up three months ago!" She yelled and poked him in the chest. "I can defend myself!"

"I know that." He said calmly. "I just worry. You haven't faced chaotic energy before so I don't know how it'll affect you."

He pulls Autumn close to him. " I care about you. I don't want you getting hurt."

Autumn blushed. "I know you do, but you have to remember I'm not a fragile little doll, I'm a warrior. Just like you." She said looking up at him.

"I know." He said and kissed her.

Little did the two lovebirds know, the two chaotic animal kings had gotten lose and were heading for them. Jackal King got there first and leaped onto Lin Chung's back, tearing his claws into his back.

"GAH!" Lin Chung yelled in pain. He threw the jackal off of him.

"Lin Chung!" Autumn yelled. She tried to get close to close to him to examine his wounds when Mustang King ran into her at full speed and knocked her into a tree. Autumn was sure she felt her ribs break. She groaned in pain and stood up.

"Okay, that hurt…." She winced. "You okay Lin Chung?"

"Yeah," He said in pain and ripped his ruined shirt off. "If you can distract them I can use my harmonic energy on them."

"Roger!" Autumn said and unsheathed her fans.

She ran at the two chaotic animals, drawing their attention away from her boyfriend. "Toro! Toro!" she yelled while waving her fans around.

The two animals charged at her with all the intent of killing her. Jackal King blew a big gust of air at her, but the human was able to leap into a tree to dodge. Mustang King ran head first into the tree, knocking it down. Autumn used the momentum from the falling tree to catapult herself behind Lin Chung.

"Ready?" She asked.

"Ready." He said as he filled his hands with harmonic energy.

He shot the purple energy at the two animals, forcing the chaotic energy out of them. Soon Jackal and Mustang King returned to their normal states. Lin Chung collapsed from using too much of his harmonic power. Autumn supported him and smiled. Jackal King and Mustang King bowed to the two humans in defeat.

"If you two would like, you can join us at Big Green. We need fierce fighters like you." Autumn said as she and Lin Chung returned the bow.

The two animals looked at each other and then nodded to them.

* * *

The next day Lin Chung set up a makeup date in the Big Green mess-hall. He held a bouquet of white roses for Autumn. Said girl walked in with a box of new paints for Lin Chung.

"Sorry for the bad date last night." Lin Chung said giving her the roses.

Autumn gave him the paints in return. "I'm sorry for getting mad at you. I know you were trying to protect me." She smiled.

The two shared a laugh and sat down to a meal of fried noodles and steamed veggies.

* * *

Twin Masters threw a boulder in rage.

"Enjoy your little romance while it lasts Lin Chung because soon it will all come burning down!"


	7. The Fall of Autumn

"Commander Apetrully!" Deer King yelled as he barged into the commander's room.

Commander was hoarding bananas again when the king of the deer came barging in.

"WHAT BANANAS?!" The disguised monkey said hiding the yellow fruits.

"I… found two humans who fit the description of the Yin Yang Warriors, sir." Deer King said. "They live in the plains with the Bison and Elk. The female's name is Lady Tomahawk and the male's name is Chief Charging Bull. Lady Tomahawk is leading the Elks against Chief Charging Bull and the bison in a five-year war."

"We must convince them to cease their fighting and join Big Green. If these two really are Yin and Yang then we must get them before High Roller and Twin Masters do." Apetrully said seriously.

"I suggest you bring Autumn Moon with you. The other day I heard her talking about her tribe or something of that sort." Deer King suggested. "She might know about a thing or two about how to spread peace between these two tribes."

"Very well. Please, go tell Autumn to meet me in the Air Force Hanger in two hours, and to bring extra gear. It might take longer than our normal peace missions."

The magnetic deer nodded and left the commander to pack. He had a sickening feeling in his stomach that is was going to take longer than a day or two. The Plains were a hostile terrain and human settlements were few and far apart. He had made a trip there in order to convince Elk King to join High Roller many years ago but the ruler of the elk was as stubborn and bull-headed as always. It would take more than just one of Apetrully's peace speeches to help. It might even take more than First Squad.

The deer king knocked on Autumn's door.

"Come in," Autumn said from the other side.

Deer King climbed came in and saw the human girl drawing something in a sketchbook. When she looked up she stopped what she was doing, got up and bowed.

"Your Highness." She said.

"You don't need to do that you know." Deer King says.

Autumn blushed and stopped bowing. "I'm sorry. Force of habit. What do you need?"

"Commander Apetrully wants you to accompany him on a peace mission with the Bison and Elk tribes. He feels like your expertise are needed for this mission."

Autumn looked over at her backpack, the same one she had come to Hidden Kingdom with. Inside she kept a secret. A secret she only told to Jumpy and Deer King.

"All right, when do we leave?" She asked getting up.

"Two hours. Meet Apetrully in the air force hanger." Deer King said.

He left the human girl to pack and put her things together.

Autumn waited until she was sure deer king was out of hearing range and went over to her backpack and began stuffing clothes, food, water canteens, and emergency medicine. Then when she was sure one was near her room she took out something from a hidden compartment in her bag. The thing was wrapped in leather and bound with black yarn and about as big as her hand. She strapped it to her belt and continued getting ready for her mission.

* * *

Lin Chung knocked on Autumn's door.

"Autumn? I was wondering if you wanted to train together." He said. "May I come in?"

"Sure," Autumn said.

Lin Chung came in and found Autumn braiding her hair. The female warrior was putting raven feathers in her hair and adding strips of colored fabric into the braid.

"Going somewhere?" He asked.

"On a mission with Commander Apetrully to negotiate peace between Elk Chief and Bison Chief." She said as she finished her braid.

"And you're doing hair because…?"

"Because I know how important is not to offend these kinds of people. I looked up their customs in Woo's library."

Lin Chung nodded and saw the leather package but didn't say anything.

"When do you leave?" He asked.

"In thirty minutes," Autumn said

She got up and kissed his cheek. "I'll be okay, don't worry."

"I'm not worried." Lin Chung said.

"Yes you are, when you're worried you bite your lip and your eyebrows bunch up," Autumn said as she poked his forehead. "It's adorable."

Lin Chung blushed at his girlfriend calling him adorable. He poked her in the sides, making her squeak.

"Who's the adorable one now?" He asked and tickled her.

Autumn laughed and tried to get away. Unfortunately, Autumn's squirming loosened the yarn on the package and a black arrowhead tied with a leather string fell out. The whole thing radiated some type of power Lin Chung stopped and went to pick it up.

"Don't touch!" She yelled and snatched it up quickly and placed it around her neck.

"What is that?" He asked.

"A family heirloom lets just leave it at that." She huffed. "Listen, I need to go." She said and left her room.

Lin Chung felt like he needed to follow her, but at the same time, he had this sickening feeling in his gut that that 'family heirloom' was trouble. At that moment he decided to get the rest of First Squad and follow Commander Apetrully and Autumn.

* * *

Autumn sat on the back of Rosefinch's plane as they flew towards the plains, trying not to freak out. Autumn did not like heights. Something about flying through the air on the plane without walls was not appealing to her, and while she had passed her air tests with flying colors, the real thing was ten times as scary.

"Are you doing okay back there?" Rosefinch asked.

"Yep! Doing fine!" Autumn said as she squeezed her eyes shut.

Soon they landed in the plains with the commander's helicopter close behind. Autumn all but kissed the ground when she got off the flying red death trap.

"All right, this is where we're supposed to meet Chief Charging Bull and Bison Chief," Rosefinch said as she looked through her binoculars.

"Do you see any bison or elk?" Apetrully asked.

"I see something… And its flying right us!" Rosefinch said. "Everyone duck!"

Autumn threw herself on the ground to dodge the boulder that was thrown at them. Another was thrown at them, this time it managed to destroy the helicopter and soon multiple little rocks where being thrown at them too. Autumn deflected some with her fans but still got hit.

"Autumn, can you see who's throwing the rocks?" Apetrully asked.

"No, I can't see- OW!" Autumn yelled as she was stuck with a dart in the neck.

Autumn swayed and passed out on the ground.

"Autumn!" The two other members of Big Green yelled.

Before they could even get close to her, a black bison grabbed her and ran off. Once the bison was out of sight the rocks stopped.

"Hey! Do you need help?!" Someone yelled.

A human woman rode up to them on a huge dark brown elk. She wore a headdress decorated with brown and yellow feathers and a tan dress. On her arms where red tattoos and she wore no shoes.

"Lady Tomahawk I presume?" Apetrully asked.

"That is me. I'm guessing you are here to try to help with our war with the bison?" She asked.

"Well we came to negotiate peace between your two tribes, but seeing as the bison have attacked us and kidnapped one of our best fighters, we have no choice but to launch an attack in order to get her back," Rosefinch said.

"I'm sure we can just ask nicely." Apetrully countered.

"I'm afraid to talk is cheap when it comes to the bison." Lady Tomahawk said. "They are a save group and only care for themselves. They have raided our villages and destroyed our crops. We were planning on a full-scale attack. If your solider really was taken then we will get her back. Please, follow us."

Apetrully turned to Rosefinch. "Go back to Big Green and get the rest of First Squad. We're going to need their help."

"I don't think we're going to have to go far." The air force member said as First Squad got closer to them.

Lin Chung got to them first. "Where's Autumn?!" He demanded.

Rosefinch and Apetrully both winced.

* * *

Autumn woke up groggily in a bed made of woven blankets. She tried to sit up, only for the room to start spinning and her vision began to blur. She felt hot and uncomfortable like she was being suffocated in her own clothes.

"Lay back down, you're ill." A kind voice said as a gentle but strong hand forced her to lay back down.

Autumn squinted and could only make out the bare outline of the owner of the voice. He seemed to be pretty tall and well built but that was all she could make out.

"W-Who…?"

"Shhh…. All your questions will be answered once you are better but for now please rest." He said and placed a cool cloth on her fevered forehead.

Autumn began to drift off to the sound of a crackling fire. When she did fall asleep she found herself outside her body. More specifically floating five feet above her body. She looked down and found and found a semi-translucent version of herself. Panic filled her chest and she did what anyone would do in this situation. She screamed.

"HOLY SHIT I'M DEAD!" She yelled.

"You aren't dead." A voice said behind her.

Autumn turned around and came face to face with a translucent coyote. It had a coy smile and sat straight up. That smile made her mad for some reason.

"Do I know you?" she asked.

"No, but your ancestors sure did. They had many names for me but you may call me Tempest. It is an honor to once again guide a member of the Moon clan." It said and bowed.

Autumn furrowed her brows. "Granddad told me never to trust a coyote."

"Oh your granddad, I remember him. He was the one who shot me!" Tempest growled. "After all, I did for him too! I lead him through those marshes, I lead him back home and I helped him find a wife! And how does he thank me? BY SHOOTING ME IN THE HEAD!"

Autumn backed up in fear. "All right, it's obvious that you have some issues with my family. So I'm just going to…. Run." Autumn said and tried to float away from the psycho dog.

Tempest cornered her and laughed. "Oh, I only have a problem with your granddad. The rest of your family I have no problem with. Now you're coming with me." Tempest bit her shirt and dragged her away.

"Hey let me go!" Autumn yelled.

Tempest continued to drag her until they were deep into the planes. Tempest let go of her and sat on a rock. Autumn growled and adjusted her shirt.

"All right, what's the big idea?" she asked with her hands on her hips.

"Your soul was in danger, I need to get you out of there," Tempest said.

"My soul? Wait, was there like a demon in there or something?"

"Worse, a witch."

Autumn stood there for a second and then started laughing.

"A-A witch?! Oh my! What's she going to do? Try to steal my shoes?" She laughed.

"This is serious! You are in danger! She's a soul snatcher! She steals fragments of people's souls and uses them to make herself stronger!"

Autumn stopped when she realized Tempest was being serious. "Okay, so what can I do about it?" She asked.

"Nothing, you need to stay away from the bison and elk. It's too late for your friends." Tempest said and the covered his mouth. "Crap."

Autumn froze. "What's wrong with my friends?" She asked.

"Nothing! Forget I said anything!"

Autumn growled and lunged at the ghost coyote and gripped his neck. "You tell me what's wrong with my friends or so help me I will turn you into a pair of fuzzy slippers!"

"ACK! Let me go! I won't tell!"

Autumn tightened her grip on the dog's neck.

"TELL ME!" She yelled.

"Fine!" The coyote growled.

The two appeared in the Elk Village but something seemed off. All the humans and animals walked around like zombies.

"My friends!" Autumn yelled.

First Squad, Commander Apetrully, and Rosefinch were all walking around like zombies with soulless looks in their eyes.

"Haha! My plan is working and once I get the souls of Charging Bull and the bison I will be immortal!" She cackled.

Autumn gasped. "I need to do something!"

"There's nothing we can do! Once you wake up you need to get the bison and yourself far away from here." Tempest said.

"What was that?" Lady Tomahawk asked and looked around. "I heard something. Zombies, search the perimeter."

Autumn and Tempest flew back to the bison village.

"We need to do something. I can't just leave my friends like that." Autumn said.

"There's nothing to do. Lady Tomahawk is unstoppable."

Autumn looked down at her sleeping body and spotted the arrowhead that hung around her neck.

"I can try using the arrowhead's magic," Autumn said. "Granddad said that it can give a warrior incredible speed and power."

"But that power comes a price and your body has already taken a lot of damage from the poison," Tempest argued.

"That's a risk I have to take," Autumn said and dove back into her body.

Autumn woke up and got out the bed and ran for the exit, only to bump in the man that had been treating her before. He had long black hair that was braided with feathers, very much like Autumn's. His dark skin reminded Autumn of caramel and his dark brown eyes were like melted chocolate. He wore only a pair of tan pants and had markings painted on his chest.

"Why aren't you in bed?" he asked.

"Chief Charging Bull I presume?" Autumn asked while getting into a fighting stance.

"That is me. Please lay back down, you are not well." He said. "The poison is still in your body."

"I don't care! I have to save my friends." She shoved past him and ran for the exit.

Charging Bull grabbed he wrist and pulled her back. He was much stronger than Autumn, especially in her weakened state. The Chief easily picked her up and set her back on the bed.

"You need rest. Your fever had not fully diminished and you are far too weak to go anywhere. If you try to do anything too strenuous you will hurt yourself even more." He said sternly.

"But-"

"No buts. I will be back with some medicine and tea. You are going to stay here and heal or else there will be consequences."

Charging Bull left Autumn in the hut and set Bison Chief to guard her.

Autumn growled and looked around the hut.

The hut was made of some sort of yellow fabric and held up with logs. In the center was a fire pit with a large pot in the center with something cooking inside, probably dinner if she had to guess.

Autumn looked up and saw an opening in the roof and got an idea. She got up and took a running start and jumped towards the opening. She almost made it when her foot hit the side of the pot, making her fall into the hot coals and dumping the hot contents all over her leg.

"AHHHH!" Autumn screamed in pain.

Bison Chief and Charging Bull ran in and pulled the human girl out of the pit. The human chief placed her back in the bed.

"Go get a healer." He said to his animal counterpart.

The bison nodded and ran to get help.

Autumn cried and whimpered in pain.

"This is what happens when you don't listen. I'm sorry, but I warned you of the consequences and now you have to take your punishment."

Charging Bull began chanting something in a langue Autumn couldn't understand. Suddenly her whole body felt like it was burning, not just her leg. She screamed in pain and blacked out.

Charging Bull continued to chant until a green an purple mist started to leak from Autumn's pores. The mist collected itself into a nearby jar and he sealed it with a clay lid. He then yanked the arrowhead off of Autumn's neck and put it in his pocket

When Autumn woke up the next day she felt insanely tired and weak, even keeping her eyes open made her feel like she had just run a marathon. She could feel her leg and sides had been bandaged and she also did not have a shirt on.

"Don't even think about moving." Charging Bull said. "I have removed your ability to fight and any powers you had so you will be forced to heal."

Autumn's eyes widened and she began to not only fear for her life but for her friend's lives too.


	8. Rise of Moon

A few days had passed and Autumn was finally allowed out of bed. The village healer gave her a light and loose cotton shirt so it would not irritate her bandages, hence why she had woken up without her shirt on the other day. She hobbled towards the outer edge of the village and sat among the tall prairie grass and let herself inhale the sent of the plains around her, Charging Bull had started making her do mediation in order to help her heal.

Autumn hated mediating. She was told to clear her mind and think of nothing and no one but all she could think of was her friends and how they were suffering over in Elk Village. It made her frustrated and angry. This would result in her not being able to mediate and that would make her more frustrated and angry. Then she would end up hobbling back to the village in a worse mood than when she started and then she would lash out at anyone who tried to talk to her.

But this time was going to be different. Bison Chief was going to be with her this time. The two had formed a sort of bond in the past few days and he was more understanding of her condition than Charging Bull was. His best friend the Elk Chief was under the control of the witch.

"Close your eyes, clear your mind and breath deeply." He instructed.

Autumn closed her eyes and took deep breaths and tried to clear her mind.

"I still don't understand the point of this." She mumbled.

"You need to think before you act. You're going to end up getting yourself killed!"

"Did think… I thought about how my friends are enslaved by a soul-sucking witch and I can't do anything about it!"

The bison used his tail to hit the back of her head. "Focus! Your anger will cloud your judgment and make you act impulsively. Try to relax."

"You relax…" Autumn muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

Autumn adjusted herself and closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Her body relaxed and soon she started seeing an image.

"I'm… seeing something…. Is this normal?" She asked.

"It is. Now focus."

Autumn focused on the image and it soon began to show the soul witch, only something was different. Her headdress had new feathers. One pink, one white, one red, one purple, one yellow and the last one was pale green. Autumn realized those were her friend's souls.

"Now let's see what new powers these souls give me." She said.

The witch shot out her tongue out like Mystique Sonya and used Jumpy's jump rope abilities.

Autumn gasped and pulled herself out of her mediation.

"What did you see?" Bison Chief asked.

"The Soul Witch uses the souls she collects to make herself strong her and keeps her them in her headdress. She has all my friend's souls too!"

"I will tell Charging Bull and we will plan an attack."

"What about me? I know my friend's powers like the back of my hand." Autumn said.

"You focus on healing. There will be no fighting for you."

Autumn growled and hobbled back to the hut she was sharing with Charging Bull. She tried thinking of a way of rescuing her friends but without her fighting abilities, we were useless. Sighing, she laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling, looking for answers.

"You know, there are other ways of fighting without combat." said a familiar coyote.

Autumn looked to her side. "Hey, Tempest. What do you mean by fighting without combat? Isn't that an oxymoron?"

"Think about it this way. You've been fighting Charging Bull without combat. You're stubborn and that can be a good thing. You have a strong will and that can be your greatest ability."

"I still don't understand, isn't being stubborn a bad thing? Everyone tells me I shouldn't be stubborn. Granddad, my brothers, and even my friends…"

* * *

 _Flashback….  
_

* * *

"I'm not doing it," Autumn said. "I'm afraid of heights!"

"Come on Autumn, zip lining is loads of fun!" Mighty Ray says.

"No way! What is the rope snaps and I fall? I'm not taking that chance."

"You do realize you have your air test today right? And that means you have to go up in the air right? You're just stubborn." Mystique Sonya said.

Autumn gulped. "Please don't remind me….. And I'm not stubborn!"

"Are too! You're even being stubborn about being stubborn!"

"I'm cautious, not stubborn!"

"Maybe if you give it a chance you would like it," Sonya said.

Autumn thought about it. "Maybe… But not today... "

* * *

 _End of Flashback_

* * *

"Alright, that was a bad example. Try remembering a time where being stubborn helped you." Tempest said.

Autumn thought for a minute.

"Well, there was that one time in middle school…."

* * *

 _Flashback…._

* * *

A twelve-year-old Autumn sat on the steps of her elementary school reading 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' one winter day. The ground was covered in five inches snow and all the kids were enjoying it except for her. A few of her classmates came over with some snowballs.

"Hey, bookworm! Come over here and play with us." One of the kids said.

"No thanks. The teacher said we're not supposed to have snowball fights. I don't want to get in trouble." Autumn said, not looking up from her book.

"We're not going to get in trouble. Come on! It'll be fun!"

"No means no!"

The kid got mad and threw a snowball at her, but he missed terribly and it hit the glass door behind her. Because the door was hot from the inside heating and the snowball was rather cold and solid, the glass shattered behind Autumn.

"Uh oh…"

"WHO THREW THAT?!" A teacher yelled and marched over.

"Autumn did!" The kids said.

Autumn got mad. "I did not!"

"Alright, everyone to the principle office! NOW!"

The kids marched to the principle's office where the group of kids told the principle how Autumn threw the snowball and broke the window. Autumn argued that she was just reading her book when one of the kids threw the snowball at her but missed. The principal didn't seem to believe her. Autumn looked over his shoulder and saw the security monitors.

"Check the cameras if you don't believe me!" Autumn said.

"Autumn if you just admit to doing it you won't get in trouble." Her teacher said.

"I'm telling the truth! Check the camera!"

"Let's just humor her Mrs. Pine." The principal said and turned to the time where Autumn was said to have broken the door.

What they saw was the kid throwing the snowball and Autumn just sitting there. The principal told her to go back to recess while he dealt with the lairs.

* * *

 _End of Flashback.  
_

* * *

"See, if you hadn't been stubborn you would have gotten in trouble instead of the kids who broke the window," Tempest said.

"Alright, but what's your point?" Autumn asked.

"I'm saying you don't give in easily. The Soul Witch can convince people of anything but since you know her secret you have the upper hand." Tempest explained.

Autumn realized Tempest had a point. If the witch couldn't persuade her to do anything then she had no power over her.

"Alright, but how does that help me save my friends?" She asks.

"Easy. Trick the trickster."

Autumn gave Tempest a look. "Are you nuts? Do you know what happens to people who trick witches? They get cursed."

"Well, it might be the only way. I'll let you think about it." With that Tempest vanished.

Autumn sighed and went back to staring at the ceiling. Tempest had a point but on the other hand, if she did trick the witch she could end up worse than her friends.

" _But wouldn't they do the same for me?"_ A little part of her asked.

Autumn sat up and hobbled towards the village meeting house, where she was sure she could find Charging Bull and Bison Chief.

When she finally got there she found the entire village was there. Most of the villager looked at her with worry, especially the healers and Charging Bull himself. The chief made his way over to her with a stern look on his face.

"You should be resting." He said sternly.

"I also should be back at Big Green with my friends, but life funny like that isn't it?" Autumn sassed. "Anyway, I know how to defeat the soul witch."

"We already know how to defeat her. Her headdress is the source of her power. We get that we kill her." Charging Bull said with his arms crossed. "This battle, however, does not concern you."

"It does so. My boyfriend and friends are her captives and you know little to nothing about their powers. I for one actually know their powers and how to beat them. Like it or not you need me and I hate to admit it I need you."

Charging Bull scowled. "You're right. But don't think I'm going to let you fight the witch alone. I'll be going with you."

"Fine."

* * *

Over the next few days, Autumn helped train the villagers for the fight as much as she could. She had most of her bandages taken off but her right leg was still wrapped up. The village healer said her leg would probably take another two weeks to heal, possibly longer if she kept walking around on it. Charging Bull had voiced his concerns about her walking around so much and asked her to stay in the hut. This annoyed Autumn to no end. She understood she was still injured but her leg didn't really hurt and she was able to walk normally. Autumn decided to go talk to Charging Bull alone.

She walked into the meeting house and saw the human chief lighting a candle and mumbling a prayer their language. Autumn understood most of their language from spending time around their teachers and listening in on their lessons.

"Esaelp gnirb ym retsis emoh." He prayed.

Autumn stood at a distance as she watched him light a small fire in a gold ceramic bowl and then throw some rose and lily petals in with some pine needles into the fire. He started praying again and repeated the process over again three times before snuffing out the fire. When he turned around he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"What are you doing here?!" He yelled.

"Your sister is missing?" Autumn asked.

"That is none of your concern. Please go back to the hut." He said.

"No. There's obviously something your not telling me. What happened to your sister?" Autumn said and crossed her arms. "And I'm not leaving you alone until you tell me."

Charging Bull sighed and sat down on them. "Fine, but it's a long story, you might want to sit down."

Autumn sat down across from him with her arms still crossed.

Charging Bull sighed and began his story.

"Before the war with the elk, the bison and elk lived together in one village, Horn Village. My sister, Tiger Lily, was an extremely brilliant girl and spent most of her time learning magic from the elders. As her magical talent increased so did her ego and impulsive tendencies. She thought she could fix any problem with a wave of her staff. Sometimes it did help, but it mostly made things worse. As future chief, I was tasked with talking to her misuse of magic but she had vanished. A few days later she turned up with a mysterious necklace with a feather on it saying it boost her magical abilities. At first, it seemed like it did and she didn't misuse her abilities anymore until one day I found her passed out with the feather glowing dark red. It took her a month to recover from that and when she did she was not the fun-loving little sister I had once had. Tiger Lilly had become cold and distant, snapping at the littlest things and using her magic to hurt people. I tried to talk some sense into her but she became enraged and left Horn Village. After a month the elk left as well, ever since then we've been at war." He explained. "The funny thing is when we first found you I was convinced you were Tiger Lilly. You look so much like her, except for the hair I mean."

Autumn touched her hair self consciously. "So all this time I thought you were just being a jerk, you were trying to protect me?" she asked.

Charging Bull nodded.

"I get it."

"You do?"

Autumn gave the chief a small smile. "I have four older brothers. Whenever I get sick, even if its just a little cold, they always go overboard with trying to make me feel better. Really, I should have picked up on that from the beginning. I'm sorry."

Charging Bull sat there for a second and then before she knew it she was being hugged by the chief.

"I should be the one to apologize. You're a member of Big Green, meaning you must have a lot of fighting talent and skill. If I wasn't blinded by the fact that you look like my sister, I would have treated you with more respect." Charging Bull said and released her from the hug. "Alright, now that we've gotten apologizes out of the way, I think I've come up with a plan to stop the witch."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"Well, it involves one of our most ancient rituals. Are you up for it?" he asked.

"If it means saving my friends you can bet your life I am."

"This doesn't mean you're getting your powers back though."

"OH COME ON!"

* * *

That night Autumn, Charging Bull, Bison Chief and a few of the village elders hiked to a large cave a few miles away from the village. Autumn rode on Bison Chief's back so she wouldn't strain her leg too much. When they arrived Bison Chief walked Autumn deep into the cave as elders and Charging Bull prepared for the ritual.

"What are we doing in here?" She asked.

"I'm confirming a suspicion." He said. "This cave is known as Erised Ynatsed."

"Desire Destiny?" Autumn asked.

"Yes. Our people come here to learn their fate during times of trouble." He explained, " I want you to stand against the wall."

Autumn got off of his back and stood against the wall. The feeling began to fill her and two strings appeared attached to her chest, one blue and one gold. The blue string was tight and firmly attached to her but the gold one seemed loose but it felt like it was starting to become stronger.

"What does it mean?" she asked.

"The blue means your fate is tied to Hidden Kingdom while the blue means something or someone is trying to shape your destiny."

"Something is trying to shape my destiny? What? Who?" Autumn asked in a panic

"That I don't know, what I do know is it's not too late to you take control of your destiny." Bison chief said and began walking out of the cave.

Autumn followed. Her mind was swimming and her heart was racing. If something was trying to influence her destiny then she would fight it. She would fight it with all that she had.

When they got back to Charging Bull and the elders had almost finished preparing for the ritual. There was a large bonfire surrounded by blue rocks and gray sand.

"We need one more thing for this to work." One of the elders said.

"What would that be?" Autumn asked.

"Some of your hair." Charging Bull said.

Autumn gripped her hair and gulped. "Can't you use your own?" she asked.

"The ritual is for your benefit and protection so we're going to have to use your hair." He explained.

Autumn groaned. "It took me forever to grow my hair out. How much do you need?" she asked.

"Oh about….. This much." The human chief said and chopped a good chunk off of her hair.

Autumn shirked as her once waist length hair was cut to shoulder length. She internally began to mourn the loss of her long hair.

"Alright, let the ritual begin!" Bison Chief yelled.

The elders began chanting something as Charging Bull began throwing some dark purple and blue liquids into the fire, making it turn a silvery gray color.

"Noom esaelp tectorp Nmutua Noom ni eltteb tsniaga ssenkrad." Charging Bull chanted to the sky as he threw in Autumn's hair.

As soon as her hair hit the fire Autumn felt a burning pain on her chest and forehead. The fire suddenly turned dark green and an all to familiar voice rang out from it.

"AUTUMN!" Tempest shouted and jumped out of the fire. The coyote was no longer a spirit and was now flesh and bone with dark brown fur and green eyes.

Autumn reached out for her friend when a green light shot from her forehead and chest. Slowly and ever so painfully a crescent moon began to carve itself into her skin. Autumn fell to the ground in pain. Tempest caught her and helped her lay down.

"What did you do?!" He growled.

"Providing her with protection for our upcoming battle." Charging Bull explained. "Autumn, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think I'm okay," Autumn said and stood up.

"How do you feel?" Tempest asked.

"I feel…. Awake and alert like I just had a good night's sleep." She said.

"That is the moon's power. It only lasts for 72 hours though." Bison Chief explained.

"Well, there's no time to lose," Autumn said. "Ready your men, we attack Elk Village tomorrow at dusk."


	9. Phases of the Moon

The next night at dusk the bison army approached Elk village in full war amour. Charging Bull was at the front, riding on Bison Chief's back. He wore Autumn's arrowhead necklace around his neck and a headdress with red and black feathers. His eyes were locked on the sleeping village.

"You ready for this old friend?" He asked Bison Chief.

"Ready as I'll ever be." The bison said.

Charging Bull turned his head to look at his men. "ATTACK!" He ordered.

The army gave a fierce war cry as the Bison ran into the village with their human friends.

The Elk army came out of the woodworks and began attacking the bison. They were much slower than the bison but made up for it in brute strength. Whenever a bison or human got to close them, elk would throw then using their large horns while the humans would use their magically enhanced strength to throw their enemies across the village. The strange thing was, they were only on the defensive, not offensive. It was a though they didn't want them getting any closer to the center of the village.

"That must be where the witch is. I hope Autumn and Tempest find their way in there safely." Charging Bull said hopefully. He was worried that this mission would go south and she would get hurt, or worse, killed.

"Right now we need to worry about ourselves." Bison Chief said as a group of oncoming humans and elk ran at them.

The human chief took the arrowhead in his hand and began channeling energy from it. Suddenly is tattoos began to glow and his eyes turn bright orange. He leaped off the bison and began fighting as a man possessed. He grabbed a man and tossed him over the crowd on onto a pile of hay. He did the same to a charging elk, grabbing it by the antlers and throwing it halfway across the village. People began to dogpile on top of him, but with the power of the arrowhead he tossed them off like there were nothing more than leaves.

Charging Bull liked his power, he liked it a lot. It was an addicting kind of power and he wondered if Autumn would be okay with him keeping it.

"BEHIND YOU!" A bison soldier yelled.

Lin Chung (Or at least he guess he was Lin Chung . He matched the description Autumn gave him.) punched Charging Bull in the jaw, knocking him a few feet back. Charging Bull held his mouth and then spat out one of his teeth and glared. He growled and lunged at the gray-haired teen. Even when being controlled he was still an impressive fighter, dodging attacks and landing blows on his fellow human.

But Charging Bull was not deterred and attacked Autumn's boyfriend with all he had, while still being careful not to actually kill him.

"I'm not sure if you can hear me Lin Chung, but Autumn is fighting for you! You must break the witch's spell!" Charging Bull said as he kicked Autumn's boyfriend.

Lin Chung gave no response but there was a look in his eye like there was a fragment of his soul left. Charging Bull dodged an oncoming attack and landed a punch to Lin Chung's abdomen. For a brief second, he looked towards the center of the village and prayed to their god that Autumn and tempest had made it safely.

* * *

Autumn looked around the witch's tent for her headdress while Tempest stood to watch outside. The tent was made of black fabric and wasn't much bigger than the hut she had shared with Charging Bull. There pieces of herbs and things that looked like bones all over the ground. Autumn gulped and continued to search through the dimly lit tent.

"Its got to be here somewhere….." She muttered. "I need more light.."

The moons on her chest and forehead lit up and shined a silver light over the room. The room was filled with glass vials, strange colored powders, and very large knives. On a table to left was a box of feathers, which Autumn assumed were more souls. To her right was a shrine with a bunch of crystals on it, one of which was glowing red and blue.

"Chaotic energy, that's how she steals souls," Autumn said out loud.

"So you figured it out." A voice said behind her.

Autumn turned around and came face to face with the witch herself, magic headdress and all. Before she could say anything the witch hit her in the chest with a blast of magic from her hand. Autumn stumbled back and held her chest.

"That was uncalled for." She growled in pain.

"I don't know what you think you're going to accomplish here. It is obvious my obnoxious brother sent you to try to defeat me, but by the looks of it, he took away any fighting abilities you had." She said as she cast a binding spell on Autumn.

Autumn grunted as her arms were forced down to her sides and her legs were forced together.

"You won't get away with this." She said.

"I already have. I managed to capture all of First Squad and when I turn you and your friends over to Twin Masters I'll become immortal." The witch cackled.

Autumn's heart and mind started racing. She needed to find a way out of this situation and free her friends. Her eyes darted around the room, trying desperately to find anything that could help her. Her gaze fell on the chaotic energy crystal on the shrine and got an idea. A possibly deadly idea, but an idea none the less.

"So you say Twin Masters gave you your powers? How does that work exactly?" Autumn asked.

"Nice try, I know you're just trying to make me spill my secrets." The witch said as she picked up some glass vials. "Now, hold still."

"Actually I'm more interested in joining Twin Masters," Autumn said.

The witch dropped the vials in shock and rubbed her ears. "I must have dirt in my ears because it sounded like you said you wanted to join Twin Masters. Which is ridiculous, you work for Big Green."

"And that make's a difference why?" She asks.

Lady Tomahawk's eyes widened. "I'm… very confused."

Autumn laughed. "Being a good guy is so boring. Being a bad guy sounds like fun! No rules, no responsibilities, and being able to do what you want? Sign me up. I'm sick of always being the good guy, even before I came here. I had to be the responsible one for me and my four brothers. For once I want to break the rules and cause some chaos."

The female chief took a step back in shock. Autumn had a look on her face, one that she recognized and knew all too well; pure madness. Autumn had snapped and her true colors were revealed. The witch smirked and released Autumn from the spell and held out her hand.

"Well let me be the first to say welcome to the side of chaos."

Autumn smirked and grabbed her hand. "I just have one thing to say," She leaned in and whispered. "Psyche."

The witch jolted back but realized Autumn still had her hand. Both of their hand started glowing silver and Lady Tomahawk felt her body become stiff.

"NOW TEMPEST!" Autumn yelled.

The coyote ran into the tent. He jumped over the two girls and snatched the headdress off of the witch's head.

"Got it! You can let her go now!" Tempest said with a mouth full of the headdress.

Autumn let go of the witch and grabbed the headdress and bolted out of the tent with Tempest not far behind her. The ran until they came to Bison Chief and Charging Bull.

"Did you get it?!" Charging Bull asked as she dodged another one of Lin Chung's attacks.

"Yeah! Now what?" Autumn asked.

"Grab the feathers and toss them into the air. They'll find their way back to their bodies!" Bison Chief yelled as he tossed some humans off of him.

Autumn grabbed most of the feathers and tossed them into the air. For a brief second, they hovered in the air. Suddenly they all took off and flew into their bodies. Autumn watched in amazement as she watched the light purple feather fly straight into Lin Chung's chest. The gray-haired warrior stumbled back and held his head. Autumn got closer to her boyfriend and gave him a worried look.

"Lin Chung?" She asked.

"Autumn?" He asked.

"Were you expecting someone else?" She asked with a hand on her hip.

Lin Chung smiled and grabbed his girlfriend by the waist and pulled her into a passionate kiss. Autumn kissed back and immediately a spark of powerful energy between them. Autumn wrapped her arms around his neck and slowly pulled her head away.

"Did you do something with your hair?" Lin Chung asked noticing her shorter hair.

"Yeah, you like it?" She asks.

"Yeah, I do." He said and moved a strain of hair behind her ear.

"AUTUMN!" Someone yelled behind them.

Soon they were tackled by Mighty Ray, Mystique Sonya, and Jumpy Ghost-Face. They all ended up on the ground laughing.

"I'm so glad you guys are okay!" Autumn laughed.

"We were so worried about you! How do you feel?" Mystique Sonya asked as they all stood up.

"Relived that you guys are okay and a bit worried." The redhead said.

"Worried? Worried about what?" Mighty Ray asked.

"AUTUMN MOON!" The witch screeched as a powerful blast of energy rocked the village.

"That," Autumn said.

Lady Tomahawk had transformed herself into a half woman half spider monster. She was easily ten feet tall with long black spider legs coming out of her back. Her mouth had transformed into a pincher and she had grown six more pairs of eyes. Her whole body gave off the signature red/blue glow of chaotic energy.

"Aw shit… This is why I don't like witches." Tempest said.

The original members of First Squad looked down at the coyote.

"Where did he come from?" Mighty Ray asked.

"Long story. Now run!" Autumn yelled as the witch tried to hit them with one of her many legs.

"GET BACK HERE!"

The group of heroes ran for cover behind some large rocks.

"What do we do?" Jumpy asked.

"She's hyped up on chaotic energy. If I can get close enough to her I can try to reverse it." Lin Chung said.

"That's not going to work. She channeling the chaotic energy through a crystal in her tent. But I think there's more to it." Autumn said. "I don't think that's her body."

"What do you mean by that?" Sonya asked.

"Charging Bull told me that his sister went through a complete personality change after finding a feather in the wilderness. What if, and hear me out, something took over her body and made a deal with Twin Masters? Whatever is controlling her body is what started the war between the bison and elk."

"That explains no one never heard anything about it till now," Jumpy said.

"So what do we do?" Mighty Ray asks.

"I'm the one she's after so Tempest and I will distract her while the rest of you deal with the crystal," Autumn said.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? She seems pretty powerful, what if you get hurt? Or worse?" Lin Chung asked.

"Hey gray hair, she's got me with her. She won't be alone and it's my duty to protect her." Tempest said with a glare at Lin Chung.

Lin Chung glared back at the coyote. Something about the k9 rubbed him the wrong way.

"Then its decided" Autumn said and jumped out from behind the rock.

"Autumn wait!" Her friends yelled.

"YO SPIDER FACE!" Autumn yelled.

The witch turned around and growled at her. "YOU!"

" RUOY ERTHOM SYUB UOY AGEM-KCOLB DESTNI FO SOGEL!" Autumn yelled and took off with Tempest close behind her.

The spider-witch took off after while the rest of First Squad went to the witch's tent. Jumpy stood guard while the others looked for the crystal. It wasn't hard to find, it was just sitting there after all. When Lin Chung tried to put his hands on it, it felt like he was putting his hands on a hot stove. He jerked his hands back and then tried to purify it with his harmonic energy without touching it. For a brief second it looked like it was working, but as soon as the red/blue energy was gone black energy began to bleed out from it.

"I think you made it worse." Mighty Ray said as he backed away.

"Everyone take cover!" Lin Chung yelled.

Yaksha stretched itself to cover everyone as the crystal exploded into millions of tiny shards. The explosion sent a shockwave through the village, knocking over homes and trees. Both people and animals were knocked off their feet.

Autumn fell onto her back and was soon pinned down by the witch's legs. Her legs cut into her skin, making her cry out in pain. Tempest tried to rescue her only to be sent flying into a tree with a sickening crack. The dog slowly slid down the tree and did not get back up.

"TEMPEST!" Autumn cried out.

"And now for you!" The witch yelled.

She tried to stab the redhead through the heart with one of her spider legs but it started dissolving into back mist and the rest of the legs soon followed. Soon a girl about Autumn's age was left and feel onto Autumn. Before Autumn could say anything the girl wrapped her hands around her neck and began choking her while black energy poured from her hands.

"You ruined EVERYTHING! I am going to enjoy this." The girl said.

Autumn couldn't breathe and felt as though her mind and energy was being drained from her. She tried to fight back, but she was becoming too weak to do so. She weakly grabbed onto her wrists and looked up at the sky and saw a bright crescent moon.

"Moon…." Autumn said weakly.

"Looks like the mind is always the first to go, isn't it?" The witch taunted as she drained Autumn more.

Autumn slowly closed her eyes and waited for it all to be over. She welcomed death at this point and let a few tears escape her eyes at thought of never seeing her friends and her family again. She would never see her mom and dad again, play football with her brothers or be with Lin Chung.

As she thought of all these things the moons on her chest and forehead began to glow with silver light and newfound energy spread through her body, giving her the strength to pry the other girl's hands off of her neck. Autumn's hands glowed with the same silver light as she stood up and threw the witch away from her.

"W-What is this? W-What is this power?" The witch said in fear.

The witch screamed as another light hit her from Autumn's hands and forehead as she stood up. From around her neck, a red feather appeared and exploded with another painful scream. Autumn stopped her attack and fell to the ground unconscious and bleeding. Unbeknownst to her the cord that represented her destiny changed from blue to silver and tied itself to a nearby purple cord, connecting Autumn and the other person.

* * *

When Autumn woke up she was in the all to familiar room of Big Green's infirmary. Around her were all her friends plus Charging Bull, Bison Chief, Elk Chief and a girl who looked like Autumn with black hair. "She's awake!" The girl said.

"Shh, no need to hurt her ears Tiger Lilly." Charging Bull chided.

Autumn tried to talk but her throat was so dry the only thing that came out was a horse cough. Jumpy handed Autumn a cup of what she thought was green tea. She took a sip and immediately spat it out.

"BLAH! What is this stuff? It tastes like dirt and leaves!" She gagged.

"She's okay!" Bison Chief declared.

Everyone cheered as the human girl coughed and tried to get the gross taste out of her mouth. Lin Chung handed her a glass of water which she chugged down. When she was done she put her hands on her hips and glared.

"What was that?" she asked.

"A tea to make sure you were not being controlled by an evil force like I was." The girl, Tiger Lilly said.

"Wait wait, you're the witch? But she was like thirtysomething and you can't be any older than me." Autumn said confused.

"The spirit possessing me made me look older than I am. I wanted to thank you for saving my life. I've never seen anyone use moon energy like that. There must be something very special about you if you're able to hold onto the moon's energy."

"Hold onto the moon's power? I thought the moon's power was temporary." Autumn asked.

"Well, um… here." Mystique Sonya said as she handed Autumn her mirror.

Autumn look in the mirror and saw the moon was still on her forehead and on her chest.

"So its been a few hours right? I still have the moon's blessing right?" She asks.

"You've been unconscious for two weeks." Mighty Ray said.

Autumn paled. "So….. I have new powers now? How does that work? You said this was temporary and nothing about new powers." She asked panicked.

"Autumn calm down." Lin Chung said.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Autumn snapped. "I need air.."

"Wait Autumn don't!" Her friends yelled.

Autumn bolted for the door and ran straight for the docks, knocking over many members of Big Green along the way.

" _Got to get out of here… Got to get out of here…."_ She thought.

As soon as she got to the docks she jumped into the water and tried to swim for the shore. She suddenly felt herself get pulled under water. She turned and saw the three ugly mugs of High Roller and the Zebra Brothers and a very large and ugly coconut grab.

"Lookie lookie what we got here." High Roller said. "Tie her up and take her to Coconut Crab Castle."

The Zebra Brothers tied her up and force an air bubble onto her head. However, a panic attack overtook her. Autumn's vision blurred and she fell unconscious as she was drug away.

" _Help…."_ was her last thought before unconscious fully overtook her.


	10. Coconut Crab Island Part 1

When Autumn woke up she was in a circular room with no windows and no doors. To her left was a small cot with a single blanket and a candle and to her right was a blank wall. Autumn got up and tried to walk towards the wall but came about six inches short. She looked down and saw a cuff around her ankle and a chain connected to her ankle cuff to the wall.

"Shit…." She growled and yanked on the chain to see if she could break it.

"It won't work you, stupid girl." The all too familiar voice of High Roller said.

"Where are you High Roller?!" Autumn yelled.

The wall in front of her shifted in front of her like it was made out of the sand and formed a doorway. High Roller stepped out with that annoying smirk on his face and stood just out of her reach.

"Well well, look what we have here. A First Squad wannabe." The shorter human taunted.

"What do you want shorty?" Autumn asked with a growl.

"I'm here to make you an offer on behalf of Twin Masters. He wants you to join our side, although I'm not sure why. By the looks of it, you have no talents to offer our side." He said.

Autumn felt both offended and angry. " Tell Twin Masters to bite my ass." She growled.

"Fine, but this won't be the last you hear about this." He said and left.

The wall shifted again, sealing Autumn in the room once again. She waited until she was sure High Roller was gone before she started to cry. She was scared and she wasn't even sure if her friends knew where she was. Autumn closed her eyes and tried to calm down. Little did she know she was being watched from beyond the confines of her cell.

Twin Masters watched Autumn from his cave. So far High Toller had done one thing correctly by capturing Autumn but it would not be easy to turn the hero. She was stubborn and that would be an issue. Luckily he had just the minion to help with this.

"Coyote King, you know what you must do correctly?" the demon asked.

A bipedal coyote stepped out of the shadows. He was roughly Autumn's height and thinly built. He had sandy colored fur and sharp blue eyes.

"Oh trust me I know the plan inside and out." The king said with a deep voice.

"Then go, and do not fail me." Twin Masters said.

The dog nodded and vanished into the shadows.

Back at Big Green the search for Autumn was on. Both First and Second Squad were leading search parties while Charging Bull and Tiger Lilly tried to track Autumn in the woods. Lin Chung was driving himself mad with worry. He felt so helpless to help Autumn when she was freaking out.

Lin Chung found himself at the docks watching the waves. He smiled to himself. This was the first place he had started to get to know Autumn.

 _ **Flash Back**_

Lin Chung had come down to the docks for some quite painting time. If was a few days after Autumn had officially joined First Squad and Big Green and as he could tell she was settling nicely into her new quarters.

Autumn was sort of awkward at their morning meals though now that he thought about it. The girl ate half of her food before leaving without a word. Then at training, she kept tripping over herself and was not at all fighting like she had on her first day. He guessed that she was nervous and stressing herself out over trying to fit in.

 _ **SPLASH!**_

Lin Chung looked and saw Autumn in the water and going under. His first thought she was drowning, so in a panic, he dived into the water to save her.

Autumn however was not drowning, he realized. In fact, she appeared to be diving for something. Once she reached the bottom she grabbed something and began swimming towards the surface. He followed her and once they surfaced he swam over to her.

"Lin Chung, what are you doing here?" Autumn asked as she moved some wet hair behind her ear.

"I could ask you the same question." Lin Chung said.

Autumn held up one of her fans and sighed. "I came down here for some quiet time but I tripped and dropped one of my fans in the water."

The gray-haired teen nodded and explained he was down there for the same reason. The two talked and swam together. Turns out both of them loved swimming as kids. When the two finally got out Autumn didn't realize that her shirt was a little thin and became a bit see through.

"Um, Autumn?" Lin Chung said with a blush. "Your shirt."

"Is something wrong with- Oh good god!" Autumn covered herself.

Lin Chung grabbed some of the emergency towels and quickly threw one to her. Autumn quickly wrapped it around herself.

"You saw nothing!" Autumn yelled with a bright red blush.

 _ **End of Flashback**_

"Lin Chung?" someone said behind him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

He turned around and saw Mystique Sonya and Mighty Ray.

"We'll find her, don't worry." Mystique Sonya said.

Lin Chung nodded. "I know, its just… something tells me that there's something more dangerous is going on." He said and closed his eyes.

Lin Chung thought of Autumn and suddenly felt a tug in his chest one that was strong enough to take the air out of his lungs.

"You okay?" Mighty Ray asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Lin Chung said.

Autumn whipped her eyes after crying for over an hour. At least she thought it was an hour, she couldn't tell the time in her cell. Although it did seem darker than before.

"Wait, how can it be darker in here without windows?" She asked aloud.

Autumn looked up and saw a glass ceiling. 

"That could be my way out!"

She got up on the bed to try to reach the ceiling but came about two feet short. Autumn tried to jump but her chain tightened, making her fall onto the bed.

"That won't work you, stupid girl." A voice said behind her.

Autumn turned around and saw Coyote King staring at her with his sharp blue eyes. Before Autumn could react the large dog pinned her to the wall. Autumn struggled and tried to kick him, but the king was far too strong. 

Coyote King examined her as she struggled. Autumn had some decent muscle build from all her training but it seemed her physical strength was being limited for some reason. An enchantment, if he had to guess. He grabbed Autumn's jaw and began to examine her face.

"Wut arw you doin?" Autumn tried to say.

"Trying to find what is so special about you. There must be something about you if Twin Masters is so keen on getting you to join us." He muttered as he examined her. "So far I don't see what is so- Ah, now see."

"See what?" Autumn growled.

"Oh as if you don't know. Not many humans are born like you in Hidden Kingdom anymore. It's a pity too." The king said sadly as he let Autumn go.

"I'm not from Hidden Kingdom. I'm from America." Autumn said as she rubbed her jaw.

"America? What's that?" The King asked genuinely interested.

"The country I was born and raised in. Home of the red, white and blue and deep fried doughnut bacon burgers."

The king looked appalled but curious. "Tell me more of your homeland." He said.

"Why should I tell you anything? You work for the bad guys remember?"

"I study humans, a lot of animals do in fact, just in different aspects." The k9 king said. "Parrot King studies human langue and Cheetah King studies human games and sports."

"That explains the shuttlecock obsession… But I'm still not going to tell you anything!" Autumn said stubbornly.

The coyote king growled and slashed Autumn's right cheek with his claws, drawing blood. "It looks like this pup needs to be taught a lesson." He growled and slashed her left cheek too, making the human cry out in pain.

The sadistic king continued to torture Autumn for hours until it started getting dark. By that point, Autumn's clothes had been ben reduced to rags and she was covered in her own blood. She was shaking and crying in pain and fear.

"Now, I'm going to ask you this: Will you join our side?" He asked.

"S-Screw o-off….." Autumn growled.

The king was not happy and slapped Autumn across her already bleeding face. "I'll be back in the morning and you better have a different answer by then." He said and vanished into the shadows.

Autumn started crying again and looked up at the sky. What had she gotten herself into? She was scared and alone. She needed to escape, but she felt so tired. She shuffled over to the bed and laid down and fell asleep.

 _Dream/Flash Back_

Autumn sat in the First Squad meeting room drawing in her sketchbook waiting for everyone else to arrive for the meeting. It had been a day or so since the awkward swimming incident and it felt like Lin Chung found any reason not to talk to her. It made her upset but she dealt with it.

"Speak of the devil…" She mumbled under her breath.

Lin Chung came into the meeting room, probably excepting the rest of the team to be there. When he noticed that Autumn was the only one there.

"Where's everyone else?" He asked.

"They're all going to be late. Mr. No Hands is trying to get rid of his athlete's foot, Mystique Sonya and Mighty Ray are taking care of the baby turtles and Jumpy Ghostface is helping Command Apetrully with something." Autumn said. 

Lin Chung nodded and set up his painting easel and started painting something. Autumn continued her drawing as well.

After a while, Autumn was starting to get bothered by the silence. She looked over at Lin Chung, and at that exact moment, Lin Chung looked at her. She quickly averted her gaze and tried to go back to drawing, but as luck would have it, her only pencil broke.

"Shit…" Autumn muttered.

"Is something wrong?" Lin Chung asked.

"My pencil broke and I don't have any extra pencils or a sharpener." She sighed and closed her sketchbook. 

"You can borrow one of my paint brushes if you want." He offered.

"That's sweet of you but I'm not very good with a paintbrush, I prefer using pencils," Autumn confessed.

"Well, you'll never get any better if you don't practice." Lin Chung said. "Open up to a blank page."

Autumn sighed and opened up to a blank page. Lin Chung handed her a paintbrush and asked her to paint something easy, like a flower. Autumn pressed the brush onto the paper and tried to paint a flower, but she pressed too hard and the petals looked like she was using her fingers to paint instead of a brush.

"Ugg….. I suck at this." Autumn groaned.

"Its okay, try not to press so hard. Try again." He said and flipped to another page.

Autumn pressed her brush lightly on the paper, making the petals look more delicate.

"There you go." Lin Chung said. "Now apply a little more pressure on the stem."

Autumn nodded and applied a bit more pressure on the stem. As she did so the black paint turned red. She gasped and saw cuts and gashes appear on her hands and arms. The room faded from around her and she began falling into the darkness.

 _ **End of Dream/Flashback**_

Autumn sat up gasping for air. She looked around and realized she was still in her cell at Coconut Crab Castle. Tears began to run down her cheek but she whipped them away angrily and stood up. She was a fighter for Pete's sake and it was time for her to start acting like it and not some damsel in distress.

"I swear to the moon I will get out of here, even if it's the last thing I do!" Autumn announced.

Autumn looked at her bed and tore the covers off the mattress and ripped it open.

"Ah ha!"

Another day had passed and Big Green was no closer to find Autumn. Charging Bull and Tiger Lilly had returned with no clues. None of the search parties had returned yet but had sent word they hadn't found anything yet. 

"Is it possible she drowned? Can she even swim?" Alpha Girl asked Mr. No-Hands in secret.

"I wouldn't say that in front of Lin Chung, but I doubt she drowned." Mr. No-Hands said quietly. "Has anyone from Second Squad found anything?"

"Nothing yet, but Hurricane Lee and Archer Lee noticed a lot of lionfish and saltwater crocodiles heading southwest." The female fighter said.

"Lion Fish and saltwater crocodiles normally stay in the southeast waters of Hidden Kingdom, there's no need for them to travel so far away from home." The older fighter said.

"Unless High Roller ordered them to move there. What animal kingdoms are in the southwest?" 

The two of them went over to a map of Hidden Kingdom and checked what animals were in the southwest seas. There were only two: Coconut Crabs and Barracuda. Coconut Crab Castle was a maze of dead ends, stairs that lead to nowhere and doors that opened underwater and rested on its own island. It was the perfect place to hold a hostage. Barracuda Castle was under water and well protected by Barracuda guards but the castle itself was in shambles due to the changing currents that constantly hit the place.

"Most likely High Roller kidnapped Autumn and is holding her hostage on Coconut Crab Island." Mr. No-Hands guessed. "Go get the Air Force and the Ravens and tell them to do some spying."

Alpha girl nodded and ran off to the air force hanger.

Autumn managed to pick the lock on her cuff with a spring from her mattress. She flexed her ankle and smiled in success.

"It worked!" she cheered.

"And so it did." A familiar voice said behind her.

Before Autumn could react she was shoved against the wall and her hands were tied behind her back. Autumn kicked and flailed in panic. 

"Let me go!" She yelled.

"Quite!" Coyote King yelled and sliced her back with his claws.

Autumn bit he lip in order to keep herself from crying out in pain as felt warm blood drip down her back. The sadistic king began cutting symbols into her back. He then flipped her around and did the same her chest and abdomen. Autumn forced herself to focus on her friends and family, not the absolute pain she was in.

"Ready to join our side?" He asked after three hours.

"Eat…. Shit!" Autumn cried out.

The king growled and threw some clothes at her.

"High Roller wants to see you and demands you look presentable. I will take you to get cleaned up." He said.

"Tell High Roller he can shove it. I'm not going anywhere." Autumn said stubbornly.

"You don't have a choice." The king said and grabbed her, forcing her out of the room.

Autumn thought of fighting back but her wounds told her that would not be a good idea.

As she was forced down the hall she took note of the smooth sandstone walls. As they walked doors appeared and disappeared, letting coconut crabs in and out. A staircase appeared in front of them, leading them down to a lower level where two smaller coconut crabs met them.

"Clean her up and dress her wounds. I will wait out here." Coyote King said.

The crabs snapped their claws and led Autumn down the hall to a roman style bath with a huge pool that acted like a giant bathtub. The floor was covered in smooth seashell shards and sea glass. The walls were also covered in sea glass but they were arranged to form some of the most beautiful mosaics Autumn had ever seen. On the wall behind her, the mosaic showed what looked like a bunch of animals looking up at the sun. On the wall to her right showed animals and humans getting along and farming together. To the left a picture of a man and a woman at a wedding, surrounded by many animals and humans.

But the wall in front of her put all the others to shame. A man and a woman stood on opposite sides of the wall. The woman was wearing a white gi with a purple collar and cuffs. In his hand she held a sword that was made of pure gold. The man wore an all back samurai armor and held a long black scythe in his hand that was made of obsidian. The two seemed to be locked in a fierce battle, but who was winning?

" _ **Click click."**_ One of the crabs snapped its claws at her and cut her ropes off.

"You don't hate humans, do you?" Autumn asked as she took off what was left of her clothes.

The crabs shook their heads.

"Then why do follow High Roller?"

The crabs clicked their claws in response.

"Uh…. I don't speak click. How about this, one click for yes, two clicks for no."

The crabs nodded understanding.

"Do you follow High Roller because he's blackmailing you?"

 _ **Click click**_

"Is he holding someone hostage?"

 _ **Click**_

"Is it your queen?"

 _ **Click click**_

"What about a princess?"

 _ **CLICK!**_

"So High Roller is holding Coconut Crab's daughter, the princess, hostage. Is that right?" Autumn asked.

 _ **CLICK!**_

"HEY STOP TALKING AND GET CLEANING IN THERE!" Coyote King yelled from outside.

Autumn quickly got in the water and tried to clean all of the blood off of her. Her wounds stung when they made contact with the hot water. She hissed in pain and forced herself under the water to clean her hair. When she surfaced she found some soaps and a sponge on the edge of the pool. She used them to scrub the blood out of her hair and off her skin, but wounds on her back were hard to get to.

"YOU ALMOST DONE IN THERE GIRLIE?!" Coyote King yelled asked.

Autumn scowled at the door. "DON'T CALL ME GIRLIE!" She yelled and went back underwater.

Autumn held her breath and thought of her friends. She hoped they were coming to help her, she wasn't sure she could get out of this on her own.


	11. Coconut Crab Island Part 2

Lin Chung found himself sitting in his room laying on his bed deep in thought. He was worried about Autumn, no one had told him anything and it was making him nervous. Not that it showed or anything, he needs to stay strong for the rest of his team and set an example for the rest of Big Green. It was a burden but it was his burden to bear.

Sighing, he sat up and took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to think of some way to get his mind off of things. Painting and meditation had provided no relief since Autumn's disappearance so he decided to go on a walk in the woods.

As he got up he looked at his wall and looked at the painting he made of Autumn and himself. It was on their second date. He had taken her to a nearby village and just spent the day walking around, checking out the stores and just spending the day together. The painting was of them at the end of the day, they had climbed a tall tree to watch the sunset.

"Don't worry Autumn, I'm going to get you back." He said.

Autumn walked with Coyote King down to the throne room. She wore a light pink qipao (a formal Chinese silk dress) with gold details, cuffs, and hem, matching pink slipper shoes and pinned her hair back with her makeshift lock pick. The two coconut crabs had helped her dress her wounds and helped her into a corset. She could barely breathe, let alone fight in that stupid thing, so she was not going to be able to fight her way out of this.

"The dress had to be pink….." Autumn growled.

"Quite girly." The king said.

Autumn growled at her new nickname, making the moon on her forehead light up.

"Now now, control that temper girly or I might have to harm that pretty face of yours again." He said holding up a claw.

Autumn glared but tried to keep her temper under control.

When they got to the throne room Autumn looked around and was in awe of the mosaics that surrounded them. 

Just like the bathroom, the mosaics were made of sea glass and shells, each depicting a story. The one to her right showed a former Cheetah King teaching humans how to play shuttlecock. The Cheetah King was made of yellowish brown glass with small pieces of obsidian as spots white the humans were made of painted seashells. The one on her left showed dolphins teaching humans how to swim and fish. Each dolphin was either a shade of light blue or gray glass so that they stood out from the pale pink seashell humans and the deep blue glass waves.

In front of her was the most beautiful mosaic of all. A gray rat, a turquoise rabbit, a red ox, a white tiger, a blue snake, a brown horse, a yellow monkey, a white sheep, a green roster, a tan dog, a pink pig, and even a large black dragon surrounded two black and white humans. Each animal was made of something different. The rat was made of quartz, the rabbit was made of turquoise, the ox was made out of rubies, the tiger was made of pearls, the horse was made of brown topazes, the monkey was made out of gold, the sheep was made of moonstone, the roster was made of jade, the dog made of seashells, the pig was made of rose gold and the dragon was made of obsidian. The two humans were made of black and white diamonds. The woman was made of mostly white diamonds but had one black diamond in her chest, right where her heart was. The man was made of black diamonds but had a white diamond in his head, probably representing his brain.

All of the mosaics reflected the sunlight that was provided by the large glass ceiling, creating a beautiful rainbow of colors.

"Beautiful aren't they?" High Roller said as he entered the room.

After he entered the two idiots Zebra Brothers entered followed by Coconut Crab King, and a much smaller pink coconut crab who's claws were bound with chains and locks. Sparky Black was carrying some sort of amulet in his hands.

"The coconut crabs document all of Hidden Kingdom's history. When anything of significance happens they document it in their mosaics." High Roller explained.

"Fascinating," Autumn said sarcastically (although she did find that really cool.) "Is there a reason you had Coyote King bring me down here dressed like a Chinese Barbie doll or did you just want to give me an art history lesson?"

High Roller's face got bright red. "I'M GETTING TO THAT SO SHUT UP!"

Autumn smirked, it was really easy to get under High Roller's skin.

"As I was saying, they document every event in our history. The most fascinating is the mosaic behind you." The short, semi-bald human said.

Coyote King forced Autumn to turn around and look at the mosaic behind them. The mosaic was obviously High Roller's rise to power, but there was something off about it. The scene was of a small blue human figure with a very large pink sea shell for a head forcing a group of people, made of red sea glass and gold, out of what looked like East Citadel. But as she looked closer it was scratched up and pieces were falling off like something was pushing the pieces off.

"Well, you're head defiantly looks like a seashell," Autumn said tilting her head. "But I'm not sure why that's fascinating."

The short dictator's face turned completely red as the two zebras started laughing.

"I MEANT WHAT'S ABOVE IT, YOU STUPID GIRL!" 

Autumn looked up and squinted. There was another mosaic above it but it wasn't a picture, it was a pattern of circle shaped red and blue sea glass. It was really pretty but the looked strange. A light started to shine behind the red glass and then the blue and kept repeating.

Autumn felt her eyelids begin to drop and her mind began to feel fuzzy as she stared at the pattern. She swayed on her feet but Coyote King kept her from falling over. Her muscles relaxed and her body felt light.

" _You will obey me and only me, child."_ A deep voice said.

"I will obey you and you only," Autumn said in a trance.

" _When Lin Chung and the rest of First Squad come you will kill them and then you will bring their bodies to me."_ The voice said.

"I will kill First Squad," Autumn repeated as she fell deeper into the trance.

" _Now sleep and when you wake up you will no longer be Autumn Moon. You shall be reborn as Winter Eclipse."_ The voice commanded.

Autumn passed out but before she hit the ground Coyote King caught her.

As soon as Autumn was out cold, chaotic energy leaked from the red and blue sea glass and formed Twin Masters. The demon lifted Autumn up with his magic.

"Little Autumn Moon, you've been a thorn in our side for too long, but now you shall be our greatest weapon." The demon said.

When Lin Chung arrived back at Big Green he was greeted by his friends' worried faces. 

"Lin Chung! Where were you?!" Mystique Sonya asked.

"I went on a walk to clear my head." The older teen explained.

"Well, we've been looking all over for you! We found Autumn!" Mighty Ray said.

"Where is she? Is she okay? Where is she?"

"Autumn on Coconut Crab Island," Jumpy said.

Lin Chung internally growled. There was no way Autumn could have swam all way there, whether on purpose or on accident. Coconut Crab Castle was a good twenty miles from here.

"High Roller must have kidnapped her and is holding her captive." Lin Chung said. "We need to go there now."

The rest of Squad nodded in agreement and headed down to the docks, only to be met by Second Squad.

"What are you doing here?" Mighty Ray asked with his arms crossed.

"Apetrully thought you would be heading off to Coconut Crab Island and insisted we come with you as back up." Alpha Girl said.

"We don't need any backup. We can handle this on our own." Mystique Sonya said with her hands on her hips.

"You really think you handle the Lion Fish, Saltwater Crocodile and Coconut Crab armies at the same time? They're surrounding the island just waiting for you to show up." GoldenEye Husky growled. "Like it or not, you need our help." 

"If what you say is true then we're going to need more than just your help." Lin Chung said.

"That's why I'm going with you." Tiger Lilly said coming in. "I owe Autumn my life."

"Then let's go." Lin Chung said. 

As the boarded Samo a sense of dread filled the group. Tiger Lilly began adjusting her bag straps nervously.

"What do you have in there?" Archer Lee asked.

"Magical items from Horn Village." Tiger Lilly said opening her bag.

She opened her bag and took out some black crystals and a familiar glass jar filled with green and purple energy.

Mystique Sonya eyed the crystal suspiciously.

"What do those do exactly?" She asked.

"These crystals act as smoke bombs, perfect for quick escapes." Tiger Lilly explained.

"Let me see those!" Kowloon said and grabbed the black crystals.

"Careful they could-"

 _ **BOOM!**_

Black smoke filled Samo's mouth, making everyone cough and gag.

"Explode….." the mage groaned.

Jumpy and Mystique Sonya blew all the smoke into one area while Tiger Lilly took out a magic jar to suck up all the smoke. Once it was all in the jar was all filled with smoke, Tiger Lilly smacked Kowloon with her bag.

"You're an idiot! Think before you act!" she yelled as she smacked him.

"Ow! Ow! You're really strong for such a small girl!" the dark-haired warrior said. 

The other's laughed as Kowloon got beat up by a girl half his size. Once Tiger Lilly had stopped beating the second squad member the mage sat down and took out some more glass jars.

"Now I have to make more smoke crystals." She said with a pout.

After that everyone went to wait to arrive at Coconut Crab Island. Tiger Lilly worked on making smoke crystals with Mighty Ray and Golden Eye, using their combined powers to make a thick black smoke that she turned into black crystals with a wave of her hand. Lin Chung was painting. Jumpy and Archer Lee decided to play a game of darts by using Yaksha as the target, but instead of darts, they used some kelp that was stuck in between Samo's teeth. Sonya was painting her fingernails and Kowloon and Alpha girl sparred. They were all keeping themselves occupied in one way or another.

Halfway through the trip the jar containing the green and purple energy began to shake and bounce around.

"Um, Tiger Lilly? Your jar is moving." Mighty Ray said.

The mage turned and tried to grab the jar, but it jumped out of her reach and began jumping around the warriors and hid behind a tooth.

"Uh.. what exactly is in that jar?" Mystique Sonya asked.

"Well….. uh…. Part of Autumn's soul." She said.

The others looked at her.

"I thought you stopped stealing people's souls!" Mighty Ray yelled.

"Its only part of her soul! And I didn't take it my brother did! Autumn had hurt herself when she tried to rescue you guys and my brother took her fighting abilities and powers so she wouldn't be tempted to try and rescue you while she healed." Tiger Lilly said. "Its never done that before."

"Well maybe being stuck in a jar for two weeks is making her irritated. Maybe you should let her out." Archer Lee said.

"I'm not sure-"

 _ **CRASH!**_

" _FREEEEE!"_ Someone yelled.

The green and purple energy zoomed around them and hit Mighty Ray and Alpha Girl in their faces. It made five full circles and hit everyone in the face or gut at least three times before stopping in front of Lin Chung and began changing shape until it looked like Autumn. She/it turned to Lin Chung and kissed him on the lips.

"Miss me?" She asked.


	12. The perfect storm Part 1

Everyone stood in shock of the Autumn look alike. She was Autumn's exact double except for the hair and eyes, which were green and purple and the fact she was about five years older than Autumn.

"Who the heck are you?" Mighty Ray asked.

"She's Autumn's strength and fighting abilities that have manifested into a solid form." Tiger Lilly said. "I think being in a magic jar for so long condensed this part of her, letting it form a solid form. "

"Okay, but if this is really part of Autumn, why does she look older?" Mystique Sonya asked.

"Well ….. I'm not sure." The mage says.

"Oh I look older because I'm the more stressed side of Autumn. Like you said I'm her strength, but I'm also every memory that had made Autumn a stronger person." The copy said.

"Like what memories?" Hurricane Lee asked.

"Her parents being deployed on her 12th birthday for one and being bullied most of her life…" she said sadly.

Lin Chung frowned. How come Autumn had never mentioned any of this to him? Were those memories so horrible that she didn't want to talk about it or did she just not trust him?

"Of course not all of them were bad, some were really nice. Like when she won her first Karate tournament or the time she finally managed to learn Japanese." She said with a smile.

The group couldn't help but smile too. Just like the original Autumn she had an infectious smile, one that made the room light up.

"But since I can't be strong for Autumn then I have to be strong for all of you." She said with a determined look on her face. "By the way, you can call me Alexandria, Autumn's always liked that name."

When they reached Coconut Crab Island they found the whole island covered in ice and snow. Trees had fallen down due to the amount of snow on them. Large shards of blue ice surrounded the island, making the whole island fortress.

"W-Who could have done this?" Kowloon asked.

"My money's on Twin Masters." Mighty Ray growled.

"I don't think Twin Masters did this." Lin Chung said. "Look at shards, their all the same size and equal distance away from each other. This is a work of art, something Twin Masters is unable to do."

Samo dropped the heroes on the beach.

"We'll search the shores for any way into the castle." Sailor Brother One said.

"I'm going with them. They might need the magical backup." Tiger Lilly said. 

The sailors left them on the beach and went to search the shore.

"Okay, the castle is that way." Goldeneye Husky said. "Follow me."

The group followed the liger king towards the middle of the island. As they walked they noticed the frozen flora around them. If it wasn't coated in ice or frost it was covered in thick snow. But the strange thing was, nothing was wilted or dead. Everything was preserved under the ice.

"This is so freaky…" Sonya said. "It's like everything was wrapped in plastic."

The group continued walking and soon came to a fork in the road. The path to the right was even more covered with snow and ice, making it slippery and dangerous. The path to the left was warm and sunny with lots of blossoming tropical flowers and fresh fruits.

"You take the path on the left, we'll take the take the one on the right." Lin Chung said to Alpha Girl.

The leader of Second Squad nodded and lead her team down the bright and sunny path while Lin Chung leads First Squad down the snowy path.

"Is it me or is this really awesome?" Kowloon asked. "For once we don't get stuck with the short end of the stick!"

"But don't you think this is kind of weird? How come this is the only place that's warm and sunny?" Archer Lee asked.

Hurricane Lee took a bright red apple off a tree and started eating it. "I say don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

" _HeEHEHeee…"_

The group froze in their tracks.

"Anyone else hear that?" Goldeneye asked.

Suddenly the plants around them fell away and the group was surrounded by the Saltwater Crocodile army.

"It's a trap!" Alpha Girl yelled.

Salt Water Crocodile Queen stepped forward. The Queen was easily as tall as Goldeneye and just as wide. Her body was covered in yellow and brown scales that shined in the sun. Her long muscular tail was just a long as Alpha Girl was tall and was covered in thick green moss. The Queen's eyes were bright neon green, but something was off about them. All of the other crocodiles were dark mustard yellow with orange eyes, but their eyes looked funny too.

"We have you now First Squad!" She yelled in a deep voice (Imagine if Bowser could talk.)

Second Squad looked at each other.

"Hate to tell you this Queenie, but we're Second Squad," Kowloon said. 

The reptilian queen tilted her head.

"No, I'm pretty sure you're First Squad." She said.

"You're Mighty Ray." She pointed at Kowloon.

"You're Jumpy Ghostface." she pointed at Hurricane Lee.

"You're Lin Chung." She pointed at Goldeneye Husky

"And you're Mystique Sonya." She pointed at Alpha Girl.

The second elite group looked at each other, unsure whether to laugh or facepalm. 

"Well, at least she got our genders right." Alpha Girl said. 

Just as she finished saying that one of the saltwater crocodile soldiers tackled her to the ground.

"ATTACK!" Both Alpha Girl and Saltwater Crocodile Queen yelled.

Archer Lee took out his bow and shot exploding arrows at the soldiers, but it did little to stop them. They shook it off and continued to attack until the archer ran out of arrows. They flung moss off of their tails at him, pinning his arms and legs together.

"Don't let the moss touch you!" He yelled as he fell to the ground.

Hurricane Lee blocked the moss with his axes, sending them flying at the croc's feet, making their tails and feet stick to the ground. The remaining members of Second Squad did the same, trapping the enemy. Alpha Girl pointed her club at the reptilian monarch.

"Now, where's- Hey are you crying?" Alpha Girl asked in surprise.

Saltwater Crocodile Queen was sobbing and hung her head. Big fat tears were running down her scaly face. Soon her all of her army was crying too.

"W-We're so sorry! We had no choice in this! *sniffle* T-Twin M-Masters is holding my husband hostage! He said he'd k-kill *sniff* him!" The Queen sobbed.

The five warriors looked at each other.

"Geeze… Maybe we can help?" Alpha Girl asked.

The queen sniffed. "That would be nice.."

The rest of Second Squad started pulling the moss off of the queen and other crocs. When they finished Saltwater Crocodile Queen dusted herself off and straightened her armor.

"So where's your husband being held?" Hurricane Lee asked.

"I'm right here." A deep gruff voice said behind me. 

Before they could react they were hit by a large muscular brown and green tail that sent them flying into the trees behind them. From the brush a saltwater crocodile stepped out, dressed in full red and blue samurai armor. He was easily two feet taller than the queen and even more muscular. His eyes were bright orange but didn't look as weird as the other croc's.

"Y-You tricked us!" Alpha Girl yelled as she tried to stand, but she was into much pain. 

"Of course we did, haven't you heard the saying 'Shedding crocodile tears'?" The king laughed.

The queen and the soldiers took something out of their eyes. Small, clear curved disks rested in their claws.

"Contacts! That's how you made yourselves cry!" Liger King said in anger.

"Well, you're not as stupid as you look- Wait you're not First Squad!" The Queen yelled.

"We told you that!" Second Squad yelled.

Saltwater Crocodile King flung moss over their mouths. "It doesn't matter, Lady Winter Eclipse will be pleased with these hostages." He said and turned to the soldiers. "Take them to Coconut Crab Castle and present them to Her Ladyship."

The crocs bound their arms with vines and forced them to hike the long untamed path through the jungle towards the castle, tripping over roots and vines along the way. Some of the soldiers would help them up but others would yank on their bindings to get them up.

When they arrived at the castle they gazed in both awe and horror at the structure in front of them.

Coconut Crab Castle was a massive structure, easily ten times the size of East Citadel, made of pure yellow sandstone with five towers at north, south, east, west and one in the center of the castle. The first four towers were around a hundred feet tall but the one in the center castle was a good three hundred feet tall. Around the castle was a mile wide mote that leads into the ocean behind it. It was a magnificent structure.

The reason they looked at it in horror was the statues that surrounded the castle. They were all coconut crabs frozen in ice in various poses. They were obviously in pain from the cold and looked to the heroes for help.

" _W-Who… why would someone do this?"_ They all thought.

They were forced over the massive oak drawbridge into the castle. The first thing they noticed was the temperature. IT WAS HOT! The whole castle radiated with such a strong heat that it felt like they had stepped onto the surface of the sun! Suddenly it switched to cold as the arctic circle in a matter of seconds! The next thing they noticed was the unmistakable feeling of chaotic energy that seemed to come from the center of the castle. 

"I don't like this…." Kowloon said.

When they reached the throne room they were in shocked to see Autumn sitting on the throne with her head in her hands sobbing.

Second Squad looked at the teenager with worry and fear.

"Autumn!" Alpha Girl said.

The redhead looked up with tear filled eyes.

"N-No…. Please no not again!" She yelled. "Please! Don't make me do this again!"

The heroes looked confused.

Saltwater Crocodile King sighed. "It happened again…. This girl sure is stubborn."

"Quite, you want to fix this or should I?" Saltwater Crocodile Queen asked her husband.

"I did it last time, you can do it this time." The king said.

The female croc smirked and yelled, "WINTER ECLIPSE!"

Autumn's body suddenly straightened and stiffened. Her right eye turned red and her left turned blue. She stood up, showing off her floor length black dress that was low but enough to see the moon on her chest, right above her heart. Both moons turned red and blue. The dress was made of black silk and made her look like evil incarnate, but there was a look in her now miss-matched eyes like they were glazed over.

"Forgive me for my poor manners." She said with a bow. "Welcome hostages."

The way she spoke was disturbing, it wasn't like Autumn at all. She talked to formally and mature for her, and it was almost robotic like someone was talking through her. Unfortunately, they knew what had caused this. 

"Autumn you need to snap out of this!" Alpha Girl yelled.

The redhead's eye twitched. "I'm sorry, but maybe you didn't hear correctly." She said as she walked up to the Second Squad leader and slapped her. "Its Winter Eclipse."

Alpha Girl growled.

Winter turned and looked at the Saltwater Crocodiles. "What do you think? Should I throw them in the dungeons or a more terrifying sort imprisonment?"

The two crocs smirked. "Considering that they came all this way from Big Green, it would be disrespectful not to let them see your new powers." The king said.

Autumn/Winter took out an amulet from the pocket of her dress. It was a large black square gem surrounded gold casing with smaller black gems surrounding it with a long black chain. It looked dirty and ancient.

"Let's see….. You first." The redhead said and pointed the amulet at Goldeneye.

The liger king backed away in fear as the amulet began to glow with a black light. Before he could make a run for it the amulet shot a beam at him. Goldeneye Husky screamed and fell to his knees. When the beam stopped Goldeneye didn't move.

"Goldeneye?" Alpha Girl said with worry in her voice.

"No no no no no…. Diane!" he yelled. "NO PLEASE!"

The king started sobbing and covered his ears like he was trying to block out someone's screams. The rest of Second Squad looked at Winter with a mixture of fear and anger in their eyes.

"What did you do to him?!" Archer Lee yelled.

Winter tossed the amulet up and down in her hand.

"This amulet is known as the Eye of Phobos. It makes you relive your worst memory or live your worst fear." The evil version of Autumn said. "It took me a while to figure out how to use this thing… We lost a lot of good soldiers because of this."

She frowned and rubbed her forehead.

"Anyway, I'm going to offer you a deal, if you lure First Squad here I'll free your friend. If you don't then you'll suffer the same fate as him." Winter said.

The remaining members of Second Squad looked at each other. They couldn't let Goldeneye suffer like this but they couldn't betray their fellow members of Big Green, no matter how big their rivalry was.

"PLEASE DAINE WAKE UP!" he shouted in absolute agony.

Alpha Girl winced. "Fine! We'll do it! Just please let him go!"


	13. Perfect Storm Part Two

"I think my feet are frozen…." Mighty Ray complained.

First Squad, plus Alexandria, was now completely lost in the frozen jungle. They had been going around in circles for the past hour, and all of them were cold and hungry.

"Jumpy's feet hurt…." Jumpy whined.

"Lin Chung, maybe we should find somewhere warmer and rest." Mystique Sonya suggested. She black haired beauty was currently using Yaksha as a blanket/coat.

Lin Chung sighed internally, as much as he wanted to keep searching for Autumn he couldn't necklet his teammates or his own health. The cold was draining their energy and if they staid out any longer they were bound to catch hypothermia. But just her was about to suggest they stop where a blast of warm swept past them. They walked a little farther and came to a base of a large volcano with a large lake at its base surrounded by palm trees and fruit trees. Around the lake were abandoned huts and boats. The whole area was very warm

"This must have been where the humans lived before they were forced off the island." Lin Chung said.

"Looks like they left in a hurry too." Mighty Ray said looking at all the clothes still on the clotheslines.

The group walked around looking around for any sign that there might be some humans still living there. They decided to split up. Jumpy and Mighty Ray took the houses, Alexandria and Mystique Sonya took the meeting house and Lin Chung took the cave at the base of the volcano.

As the two girls walked to the meeting house Sonya decided to ask Alexandria some questions.

"So you're basically Autumn right?" She asked

"Pretty much, why do you ask?" The copy said.

"Well can't you sense where she is?" The black haired girl asked.

"Well, I can try…"

Alexandria sat on the ground cross-legged, closed her eyes and began to meditate. Sonya waited five minutes before she went off on her own. When she entered the meeting house she was surprised by how clean it was. The meeting house was basically a hut made of palm trees and the roof was made of palm leaves. Inside was decorated with large bookshelves that were covered in books and strange wooden statues. Wooden benches surrounded a large fire pit. The weird thing was that there was absolutely no dirt of dust anywhere. It was like someone had just decided to come in and clean just before they got here.

"You'd think after being abandoned for so long this place would be filthy," Sonya said as she looked around.

Yaksha nodded and made an incoherent chittering noise while pointing at one of the statues of some sort of bug-eyed thing.

"What is that?" Sonya asked as she picked it up.

Behind her, something knocked over one of the benches.

She whipped around just in time to see a bushy tail dart behind one of the shelves. Moving closer she saw the scared face of none other than Tempest the Coyote.

"You!" She yelled.

"Mystique Sonya I-"

 _ **KERALA!  
**_

Sonya used her tongue to send the dog flying into the wall.

"Where's Autumn?!" She yells.

"One: ow! Two: I don't know! I was going to ask you the same thing!" He growled.

"Then what are you doing here? More importantly, how are you here? When we checked on you after the battle at Elk village you were dead." The human asked.

Tempest stood up and shook the dust off of his fur.

"I'll let you in on a secret; I'm not actually a coyote," Tempest said.

"Yeah, I sort of got that already. If you're not a coyote then what the heck are you?"

Tempest jumped onto one of the bookshelves so he was eye level with Mystique Sonya.

"I'm Autumn's spirit guardian. I've been protecting her and her family for years. I would do anything to protect her and I mean anything." He said. "Anyone who hurts her is on my list and right now High Roller and Twin Masters is on the top of that list after what they did to her."

Just before Sonya could ask what they did Alexandria, Jumpy and Mighty Ray ran in.

"Lin Chung found something." Mighty Ray said.

The group, followed by Tempest (who immediately clung to Alexandria's side, very much like how he did with Autumn) walked into the volcanic cave.

The cave's walls were made of black volcanic rock with large stalagmites and stalagmites all over the place. Cave painting covered the walls with red, yellow and white paint. They showed battles between two different groups of stick figure humans each painted in different colors. There was one human that was bigger than the rest. It was roughly the size of a teenager and painted white, but it seemed that something large and rectangular had recently been ripped out of its chest.

"Over here!" Lin Chung yelled from further into the cave.

As they walked farther into the cave the temperature began to rise to the point where the group was sweating buckets by the time found Lin Chung, who had removed his hat and pulled his hair back into a ponytail.

"What did you *pant* find?" Alexandria asked as she too pulled her mismatched hair into a ponytail as well.

"Check this out."

On the walls, written in gold, was a story.

" _Our island is the birthplace of one of Hidden Kingdom's greatest hero Yang Kai, but before she was a great hero she was the thirteen-year-old daughter of the village's chief name Aki. One day the chief went off to war, leaving Aki to take care of the village in his place. However, the villagers didn't take too kindly to having a young girl leading them so they sent her on a mission to fight a monster on a nearby island that they claimed had been attacking the east side of the island to test her. The monster was only known as Phobos because it invoked so much fear just by looking at it._

 _Aki gathered her weapons, a sword, and shield, and took her boat to the island. When she arrived Aki found the beach littered with bones of all kind, both human and animal. Aki mustered up all her bravery and walked further into the heart of the island. When she reached the middle of the island she came across Phobos._

 _Phobos was a giant cyclops that was over twelve feet tall and was mainly composed of fat. Its body, arms, and legs were covered in thick black hair. Its head was completely bald and had a massive black eye in the middle of its head along with a massive fang-filled mouth. It was easily bigger than an elephant._

 _Phobos was asleep with fresh blood around its mouth, probably from a recent kill. Aki walked towards the monster with her sword in her hand ready to slay the monster. But as soon as she got close the monster opened its horrible eye, paralyzing her in fear. The monster roared in her face and grabbed her. Out of pure fear she threw her shield at its eye. Phobos dropped her in pain, allowing her to run to safety._

 _Once out of danger, Aki tried to calm herself. The monster itself didn't scare her, but its eye. Looking into its eye she had seen a brief flash of a bloody battle. Aki shivered at the thought, her worst fear was her father dying in battle. Then she realizes something that fat couldn't outrun its prey, so it must have had another way of catching it, and that way was paralyzing its foe with its own worst fear. Aki knew in order to kill the monster she would have to use its greatest strength against it._

 _Aki walked to the beach and began gathering sea glass and bones to make a mirror. When she finished she waited until the sunset and returned to Phobos. The cyclopes were eating some unfortunate animal when she approached it._

" _Hey ugly!" She yelled._

 _Phobos looked up and lunged at the human girl. Aki dodged and swung her sword at it, just barely cutting its face. The cyclopes howled in pain and swung its arm at her, knocking her into a tree. Aki got up and held her sword tight._

" _Is that the best you got?!" She yelled._

 _Aki swung her sword and it again, this time she managed to cut off its hand. The monster howled in pain again and this time kicked her and sent her flying. Aki landed a few yards away. She was in massive pain, and her left arm was defiantly broken. Pushing through the pain she charged at the monster again, this time holding the mirror up._

" _You like scaring people huh?! Then get a load of this!" She yelled ad she launched herself at Phobos._

 _She managed to knock the monster off its feet and knocked the air out of it. Aki forced the mirror in its face, showing the beast it's own worst fear. The monster became paralyzed in fear, giving her time to decapitate the beast with her sword. Blood gushed from the wound, covering her in its blood. Aki raised her sword in victory but soon passed out from her injuries._

 _Aki woke up three days later next to the corpse of Phobos. She realized she had two problems, one, she couldn't fit the entire head of the monster in her tiny boat, and two, she couldn't row her boat with a broken arm. Deciding to deal with the rotting corpse first she used her sword to remove the eye from its head. What she discovered was that the eye was one solid stone, but it was still too big and heavy for her to put in her boat. Aki spent the whole day hacking it into one rectangular piece._

 _The next day she went to her boat and discovered a small army of coconut crabs had surrounded it. The crabs had been sent by the villagers to look for her, fearing she was dead. The crabs helped her back to the island. When she returned to the island she was greeted by the villagers with apologizes for sending her on what had basically a suicide mission, but before she could forgive them he father returned from battle followed by a large number of enemy soldiers. They had taken her father hostage and forced him to bring them to the island._

 _Aki stepped forward to defend her people but was stopped by her father._

" _Stand down my daughter." He ordered._

" _But-"_

" _Aki, stand down now."_

 _Aki reluctantly put her sword down as the soldiers forced their way into their homes.  
_

 _For weeks the enemy soldiers forced families out of their homes, ate their crops and harassed the coconut crabs. Aki couldn't stand to see her people being oppressed so she began to formulate a plan. She set up a huge feast for the soldiers, hoping to drug them and send them out to sea while they were asleep. Unfortunately one of the soldiers caught on to what she was she planning and told the others. They kidnapped her father and threatened to kill him in front of her unless she married their leader as punishment. She reluctantly agreed but only if they swore no harm would come to her father. They gave her their word and a few days their leader, Futotta Buta, had arrived for the wedding._

 _Their leader was a very short man who nearly six times her own age. He had no hair on his head, beady brown eyes and one tooth. Aki knew she couldn't go through with the wedding so she went to see the village elder._

 _The elder told her the only way to get out of the marriage and to ensure they harm her father was to scare them away. Aki got an idea and went off into the forest._

 _That night she invited Futotta Buta on a picnic._

" _My bride, I can't wait for our wedding." He said with a loud laugh._

" _Same my husband, but please speak quietly. We would not want to disturb the spirit of the island." Aki said quietly._

" _Spirit of the Island?! HA! There is no such thing!" He said._

 _Aki smirked to herself. Once to the picnic spot she excused herself and hid in a cave and dressed in woven grass, furs and bark. She put a mask on that was made dark oak wood and had the piece of Phobos' eye in the center. She hid in some bushes and howled as loud as she could, successfully making Futotta Buta jump out of his skin._

" _ **I AM THE SPIRIT OF THIS ISLAND! YOU AND YOUR MEN HAVE DISGRACED MY LAND AND NOW YOU SHALL BE PUNISHED!**_ " _Aki yelled as she leaped into the trees._

 _Unknown to Aki when the moonlight hit The Eye of Phobos it shot a black light at Futotta, making him scream in absolute terror as it made him live his worst nightmare. Futotta managed to run back to his men and ordered them to leave the island. But before he left he swore that one of his descendants would get revenge on Aki and her descendants._

 _When the soldiers finally left the villagers celebrated and Aki was named chief._

 _Years after Aki's death many have tried to use the Eye of Phobos for their own gain but Aki's death had placed a powerful curse on it. Whoever did not possess a strong connection to the moon would be unable to use it, but if someone had a strong connection to the moon they could use it, but at a terrible price. The user would be forced to live their worst nightmare or relive their worst memory. That is why to this day we keep the eye in this cave so that no one will be forced into such torture."_

"Charging Bull used that moon spell on Autumn and the eye is missing." Lin Chung said. "High Roller must be forcing her to use it!"

Alexandria put her hand over her heart and tried to breathe.

"We need to go now." She said and ran for the exit.

The group followed only to run into Second Squad who looked extremely frazzled and upset.

"We found Autumn." Alpha Girl said.

* * *

Winter was losing her patience. It was nearly sundown and Second Squad had not returned. Along with that, a strong wind was starting to surround the island, a warning that Twin Masters was returning soon.

"They should have been back by now." She growled.

" _You leave them alone…."_ A faint voice said within her head.

Winter got up and walked over to a mirror that was behind the throne. In the mirror, she saw Autumn's reflection staring back at her. The original redhead looked like she had seen Hell. Her pale face was stained in tears. Autumn's red hair was messed up and her entire body was shaking, whether it was fear or anger Winter didn't care to know.

"Do you want me to use the eye again?" She scowled.

"NO!" Autumn yelled in fear. "P-Please no… Please not again…. I can't take the screams and visions anymore!" Autumn sobbed.

"Then shut up and maybe I'll let you go with your sanity intact." The darker girl said as she walked away from the mirror.

She suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.

" I know it's you, Coyote King." She said without turning around.

The anthropomorphic coyote walked over to Winter.

"Autumn causing problems?" He asked.

"Ug… you don't know the half of it. She's amazingly stubborn, despite being physiologically tortured." Winter said as she sat on the throne and put her head in her hand.

Coyote King eyed the amulet around the dark young woman.

"You know, I caught a few coconut crabs trying to escape and the zebra idiots slacking off. Perhaps Autumn should be the one to discipline them." He suggested. "I mean she did _so well_ with the others before."

Winter smirked, remembering when Twin Masters forced Autumn to use the eye on innocent coconut crabs.

"Perfect."


	14. The Perfect Storm Part 3

First Squad was marched into the castle-bound with vines and lead by the remaining members of Second Squad, however, Tempest was nowhere to be seen.

As they walked the whole castled smelled like ozone and wind swirled around them.

"Why is it so windy in here?" Mystique Sonya asked.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Kowloon said.

When they got the throne room, they found not only coconut crabs screaming as they were forced to live their worst nightmares, but Coyote King and the Zebra Brothers as well. The coyote was screaming in horrible agony as the zebras were curled up in the fetal position.

"No, please…. Please!" Coyote yelled. "I didn't mean to fail! Please!"

The heroes stood in absolute horror. Never had any of them seen such agony, such terror. Lin Chung actually felt a bit ill looking at this scene. He couldn't believe that Autumn, whether controlled or not, could do something like this, but deep down she knew that chaotic energy could make anyone do horrible things.

"A-Autumn? Er… I mean Winter? Are you here?" Alpha Girl yelled out.

There was no response.

First Squad untied themselves.

"Spread out and look around, she's got to be here somewhere." Lin Chung ordered.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Mighty Ray asked. "With the Eye, she could easily pick us off one by one."

The others nodded.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm agreeing with Banana Head." Archer Lee said. "Maybe we should go in groups."

"I'll go with Kowloon, and Jumpy." Alpha Girl said. "Archer, Hurricane and Sonya can go together and search the main floor while we look Goldeneye in the dungeons."

"I guess that leaves me, Lin Chung and Mighty Ray," Alexandria said. "We'll check the towers and the main floors. Sound like a plan?"

The others nodded in agreement and went their separate ways.

* * *

Kowloon, Jumpy and Alpha Girl walked through in the dark dungeon. All around them were more coconut crabs and even some saltwater crocodiles who had cursed by the eye. Many of them were crying and screaming, but some were just sitting there with blank faces.

"Look at how many animals she's used the eye on…. If what the legend says is true, is Autumn even going to be the same?" Kowloon asked. "I mean we saw what happened with Goldeneye and Coyote King and they're considered some of the strongest and most seasoned warriors of Hidden Kingdom!"

"I really don't want to think about that." Alpha Girl said.

"Not to mention the fact that Twin Master's controlling her-"

"Kowloon."

"The chaotic energy would already cause a lot of pain-"

"Kowloon!"

"I'm just saying she could be a totally different person, I mean how do we even know she even be on our side any-MRPH!"

Jumpy covered Kowloon's mouth with his ears.

"Shut up!" Both Jumpy and Alpha Girl yelled.

Kowloon mumbled 'sorry'.

The three continued to walk deeper into the dungeon. As they did the walls and floor changed from ruff yellow sandstone to smooth black and gray stones. On the right of them were more cells but on the left were very ornate paintings, show the old imperial palace before High Roller took over. On the left, it showed the former emperor and empress and their son.

The emperor's name as Bǎohù Zhě and was somewhere in his late thirties/early forties when this painting was made. He had dark brown eyes, pitch black hair that was pulled into a samurai's bun and dark skin. He wore red and gold samurai armor and held his helmet and sword at his side. He had a stern look on his face but his eyes held a gentle look in them. Bǎohù Zhě had slight crows feet around his eyes and smile lines around his mouth.

The Empress' name was Wēnhé and she was also in her late thirties/early forties. She was very beautiful, with light blond, nearly white hair and bright, intelligent green eyes. Her skin was a healthy but pale color. Like her husband, she had smile lines around her mouth. Wēnhé wore pale pink robes with gold lace around the sleeves and bottom. She held her son close to her as she smiled.

The son's name had been Tàiyáng, and in the painting, he was around five or six, give or take. But that was the only thing that could be made out other than his black robes. It was as though someone had taken a harmer to the prince's face to obscure his identity.

"The royal family…" Jumpy said sadly.

"Its been a while since I've seen the emperor's and the empress' faces…. How old would Tàiyáng be now?" Kowloon asked.

"Nineteen next New Year. I remember meeting him once when I was seven. He was climbing the apple trees in the garden to reach the fruit at the top. His mother got so mad." Alpha Girl said as she wiped some tears from her eyes. "It's hard to believe they're gone."

"Tàiyáng isn't dead." A familiar voice said behind them.

The group turned around and saw Goldeneye Husky smiling weakly at them as he leaned on a wall. He looked a little worse for wear but nothing a few hours of sleep couldn't fix.

"Goldeneye!" Kowloon and Alpha Girl yelled and they tackled the Liger King in a hug.

"What mean Tàiyáng not dead?" Jumpy asked.

"I was there when High Roller took over." The liger said. "You see I had just joined High Roller's army after that horrid little twerp had murdered my wife, the Tigon Queen, Diane and he threatened to kill my subjects as well. I didn't really have an option so I went along with whatever order High Roller gave us. The day after we captured East Citadel we went straight to the Imperial Palace. I have to admit that the Emperor's men fought fiercely that day but we easily outmatched them.

When we reached the throne room Bǎohù Zhě was there, sword in hand with Wēnhé standing next to him with her bow and arrows. The two put up a tremendously good fight but they were no match for High Roller's secret weapon, a powerful potion that would turn anything it touched into stone. High Roller shot it at the two royals, turning them into statues.

High Roller ordered us to search the castle for Tàiyáng while he took anything of value. I went to Tàiyáng's room and found him hiding in his closet. He begged me not to kill him and I just couldn't find the heart to kill a little kid, so while the others were distracted I slipped him out the window. I saw him run into the woods and that was the last I saw him."

All of the information was a lot to take in at once. Alpha Girl shook her head.

"We're going to have to tell Commander Apetrully this later. Right now we need to find Autumn and somehow get her back to normal." She said.

The group made their way out of the dungeon when a thought entered Jumpy's mind.

"How you escape?" Jumpy asked Goldeneye.

"Autumn managed to break out of Winter's control in time to free me from the eye's spell, but something went wrong…" The liger king recounted. "She started screaming 'get out' and 'no stop' and for a second I thought….."

"You thought what?" Kowloon asked.

"I-I thought I heard Twin Master's voice talking through her."

* * *

"Find anything?" Sonya asked the Lee brothers.

The three of them had been walking through the halls of the main floor and checking any rooms they came across.

"Just more terrified coconut crabs." Archer Lee said as he tried to comfort the crabs.

"I think I found something!" Hurricane Lee yelled from down the hall.

The two ran down the hall and came to the castle's library.

The library's walls were completely covered in booked and ancient scrolls, all neatly put away and organized. In the middle of the room was a large circular oak table with a large number of scrolls on it.

"You should see this." Hurricane Lee said as he tossed a very ancient looking scroll to his brother.

Archer Lee opened it and began reading out loud.

" _The Perfect storm._

 _To create the perfect storm there four pieces you need:_

 _A source of powerful energy._

 _A_ _ **human**_ _catalyst, don't try to use an animal._

 _A full moon._

 _An island in some sort of body of water._

 _The energy will be stored in the human's body for over twenty-four hours before the full moon but make sure they are completely under your control or else the spell won't work. At the stroke of midnight release the energy from the body. Depending on your intentions one of three storms will occur:_

 _-Category Five Hurricane_

 _-Wind storm with mild rain_

 _-A rainstorm with mild winds_

 _The vessel will take some serious damage and will either go into a coma or worst-case scenario they'll die. Good luck._

 _-Zebra Queen III"_

The three went quiet.

"We need to find Autumn now."

The three raced out of the library and began frantically searching for Autumn.

* * *

Lin Chung, Mighty Ray, and Alexandria had split up to cover more ground. Lin Chung had found himself on a balcony that overlooked the ocean. In front of him was an unconscious Autumn.

"Autumn!" He yelled and ran to pick her up.

The redhead looked like she had hiked through Hell. Her dress was tattered and had been cut off at the knee, showing strange symbols that seemed to have been carved into her skin. Her face was stained with tears, scratches, and blood. The Eye of Phobos was hanging innocently around her neck.

"Autumn….? Please wake up." He said and lit up his hand with harmonic energy and cupped her face, trying to heal her.

As he did so someone yelled his name.

"LIN CHUNG!"

The others ran up to him in full panic.

"That's not Autumn!" Goldeneye yelled.

A dark laugh erupted from Autumn as Lin Chung dropped the redhead and backed away.

"So you figured it out." The all too familiar voice of Twin Masters said.

Autumn stood up and smirked. Her eyes were the same colors as before when Winter Eclipse took over but the moons on her forehead and chest were completely black this time.

"Twin Masters! What did you do to Autumn?!" Mystique Sonya yelled.

The unnatural laugh came out of Autumn's mouth again. It was extremely unsettling.

" _ **Your friend is sealed inside her own mind. While she may have been able to take being mentally assaulted by the eye multiple times and, her will was shattered when I possessed her."**_ The demon said.

Lin Chung felt the blood rush to his ears in pure anger as his vision turned red. His friends backed away, as they had never seen the normally calm and level headed warrior get so angry before. Sure they had all seen him sad, depressed, happy and calm, but never angry. Then he did the one thing they never expected to do.

He punched the possessed Autumn in the face, breaking her nose.

"Get the _**HELL**_ out of my girlfriend!" He roared.

'Autumn' touched her nose and the looked at the blood in surprise. Twin Master hadn't actually expected Lin Chung to actually _hit_ Autumn. That was an oversight he would not make again.

" _ **Why don't you make me?"**_

Before Lin Chung could make another move, Alexandria stepped between the two.

"Alexandria what are you doing?!" The others yelled.

" _ **Who are you-"  
**_

 _THWACK!_

The purple and green haired girl had pulled Lin Chung's staff off of his back and hit 'Autumn' in the stomach with it like she was hitting a home run.

"I am Autumn's strength. You wanna pick a fight, then fight me." Alexandria said.

'Autumn' smirked and punched Alexandria in the jaw, but the copy didn't seem phased.

"Come on my grandma can hit better than that!" Alexandria said with a laugh as she delivered a swift kick to Autumn's ribs.

Twin Masters growled in frustration had Autumn's rib cracked.

" _ **What are you?!"**_ The demon yelled as he relentlessly attacked the copy.

Alexandria didn't respond or doge the attack. Instead, she blocked by using her arms to absorb the hits.

"What is she doing?" Lin Chung asked.

"Is it me or is she starting to glow?" Mighty Ray asks.

Mighty Ray was right, with each blow Alexandria's body glowed brighter. The possessed teenager struck her in the face, making her glow in a blinding green and purple light. A soon as the light appeared it was gone, along with Alexandria.

Everyone was quiet. Did Alexandria just…..?

'Autumn' started laughing, confusing the heroes of Big Green. Suddenly a very strong wind knocked them back. Above them a bright full moon and from inside they could hear the sound of the clock chiming twelve times.

It was midnight, and Twin Master had everything he needed to create the perfect storm.


	15. New Moon

" _ **You're too late heroes! And now for the storm to destroy all of Hidden Kingdom!"**_ 'Autumn' cackled.

The strong winds picked the teenager up and lifted her up to the highest tower while the heroes tried to fight against the wind.

"What are we going to do?! How can we stop a storm?!" Kowloon yelled over the wind.

"We need to knock out Autumn! Maybe that'll stop it!" Mystique Sonya yelled.

"That won't work you, idiot!" Archer Lee yelled. "The spell stored the storm's energy in her body remember? We would have to kill nb her!"

" Hey, I'm the only one who can all Sonya an idiot!" Mighty Ray yelled.

The members of Second and First Squad began yelling at each other and making suggestions on how to stop the storm, all except Lin Chung.

Lin Chung's mind was racing with ways to save his girlfriend and fear. He wished he had a magical solution to all this.

 _"Wait for a second, magic! That's it!"_ he thought.

"We need Tiger Lilly! She could trap the storm's energy in one of her magic jars!" The gray-haired teen yelled.

The others look at each and nodded.

"But how do we get to her?!"

As if to answer them, Saltwater Crocodile King and Queen came out onto the balcony, seemingly unaffected by the strong winds because of their large size. The two were looking at the building storm in fear in worry.

"I didn't think the storm would be this bad! I thought it would just be just strong enough to knock down some human homes!" The queen said.

"We have to do something." The king said.

Lin Chung got an idea.

"HEY!" he yelled. "You wanna stop the storm right?"

The crocodiles came over and nodded.

"Do you have a plan human?" They asked

* * *

Saltwater Crocodile Queen swam up to the underwater batter between Samo and the Lionfish army. The whale was fighting the Lionfish army with the help of the sailor brothers. Around him was Tiger Lilly, who was swimming and sending beams of bright blue energy.

The reptile queen swam straight up the leader of the fish army, Lion Fish Prince.

The Prince was roughly fifteen inches long with long black curved spines that ran down from the top of its head down to his tail. His main body was dark yellow and his eye was black.

"Launch spines!" The fish ordered his soldiers.

The smaller lionfish launched their spines at Samo, but Tiger Lilly managed to block them with a wave of pink magic.

"STOP FIRING!" Saltwater Crocodile queen yelled.

The Lionfish army and Tiger Lilly stopped firing and looked at the crocodile matriarch.

"The humans aren't our enemies. Twin Masters' storm will destroy us along with the humans!" the Queen said as she swam between the fish and the human.

Lionfish Prince looked at the queen with a frown.

"How do we know that this is true?" He asked.

"Go above the waves and you'll see!"

The prince and his soldiers swam up to the surface and were surprised at what they saw. A large vortex of water was forming the right of the shore of the island. Frozen coconut crabs and coral were being sucked into the vortex along with pieces of the castle. The winds were getting even stronger and began pulling the fish into it.

"DIVE!" The prince yelled.

As the lionfish dived back towards the bottom a powerful wind pulls a few lionfish out of the water and into the vortex. The rest of the army made it back the Saltwater Crocodile Queen.

"You're right. How do we stop this?" The Prince asked.

Saltwater Crocodile queen looked over at Tiger Lilly.

"We're going to need a little magical help." She said.

Tiger Lilly swam up to the crocodile. "What do you need me to do?"

* * *

Twin Masters watched from the storm form from the top of the tower.

" _ **Soon all of Hidden Kingdom will be destroyed!"**_ He cackled. _**"If I had known that Autumn Moon was a Moon Solider I would have kidnapped her a long time ago."**_

Suddenly the winds shifted. Below him, Tiger Lilly was performing a spell. Surrounding her were six of her magic jars, which pulled the storm's power into them.

"Strips fo erutan I llac ot eeth, ot pots siht mrots morf gniuac a ehportsatac! I llac eht sseddog fo dniw, eht sseddog fo miar, dna eht fo mrots! END THIS CHAOTIC STORM!" She chanted.

" _ **NO!"**_ Twin Masters yelled.

The storm began to disappear as it was sucked into the jars. Soon the Jars sealed themselves.

" _ **I will make you pay!"**_ The demon posed girl yelled.

"No it is you who will pay!" A voice from behind said.

Before Twin Master's could turn around they were struck by Archer Lee's exploding arrows and Jumpy's carrot grenades, making the possessed teen fall on to her face.

"Let Autumn go or you'll regret it!" Alpha Girl yelled.

Autumn stood up and held the Eye of Phobos in her hands.

" _ **I think it'll be you who will regret it."**_

The eye began to charge with moon power and Twin Master fired it at the heroes, but before it could Lin Chung stepped in front of his friends and took the blast.

"Lin Chung no!" The other yelled.

The leader of First Squad fell to the ground unconscious, his staff rolling out of his hands. For a second all was quiet.

Without a word the remaining members of Big Green all attacked Autumn at once. The possessed teen narrowly dogged all of their attacks a fired back with Chaotic energy. With one big burst of chaotic energy, the heroes went flying.

" _ **You humans are so pathetic. Do you really think that what you do will make any difference? In the end, chaos will always win."**_ Twin Master said.

"You're wrong!" Mighty Ray said trying to stand back up.

" _ **Am I?"**_ He asked as he kicked Mighty Ray back down.

"It's you who is wrong Twin Masters!" An all to familiar voice said behind him.

" _ **No, it can't be!"**_ the demon yelled.

Another Lin Chung stood behind him while the first Lin Chung was still on the ground unconscious, but this one didn't have his signature hat.

" _ **How is this possible?!"**_

"Easy, the Lin Chung you hit with the eye before was Tempest in disguise." Lin Chung said as the other him transformed into Tempest, who was wearing his hat. "When Second Squad told us about your plan we went to Tiger Lilly and she performed a spell that would make Tempest an exact duplicate of me."

The harmonic warrior walked closer to his possessed girlfriend.

"I know you're in there Autumn, please, break Twin Master's control!" He said and grabbed her arms and began channeling his harmonic energy into her.

" _ **N**_ O! _ **"**_ Twin Masters yelled.

"Come on Autumn! I know you're scared but you need to break Twin Master's control!" Lin Chung yelled.

As the harmonic energy reached the Eye of Phobos it began to pulse with green light and shot the green light directly into Lin Chung's chest.

 _Suddenly Lin Chung wasn't at Coconut Crab castle anymore. He was in a forest but everything around him seemed bigger than it should have._

" _RUN CHILD RUN!" A voice yelled from behind him._

 _Lin Chung took off running until he was in another part of the forest. Everything was so dark and cold. An eerie feeling went down his spine._

 _BOOM!_

 _It began to pour down rain, drenching him.  
_

" _ **HSSSssssSSSss… Human child… GROOOWWLLL….. We've been waiting for you…"**_ _A voice said that seemed come from all around him._

" _Leave me alone!" He said, his voice much higher than it should have been._

 _In front of him, two large yellow eyes with large black silted pupils appeared out of the darkness. He suddenly couldn't move his legs to run away._

" _ **Sssso ssssssmall…."**_ _It said._ _ **"I could kill you right now… but I think I have a better idea…."**_

 _Lin Chung felt pain all over his body, making him scream in pain. Desperate to save himself he reached for a thick, hollow piece of bamboo on the ground and wacked then monster with it._

"LIN CHUNG NO!" Someone yelled.

Lin Chung found himself back on top of the tower at Coconut Crab castle. In front of him, he saw an unconscious Autumn, falling off the tower.

"NO!"

Lin Chung flung himself off the tower after Autumn. He managed to grab Autumn but they were falling to fast for him to grab on to anything and they were approaching the ground fast!

The gray-haired warrior held Autumn close to him and tried to call upon his harmonic energy to stop to their fall but he must have exhausted his power when he exorcized Twin Masters from Autumn.

"Yaksha! Trampoline!"

Below them Yaksha expanded and turned into a trampoline, catching the falling couple.

"Thank you Yaksha." Lin Chung said.

By the time the others had gotten down from the tower, Tiger Lilly was already examining Autumn's wounds. Her left arm was sprained, both legs were broken with simple fractures and the wounds on her back and legs had re-opened during the fight. Lin Chung had fared a bit better, his left wrist was sprained slightly from the fall and he had a few burses on his abdomen from when he was in the trance and Twin Masters managed to land a few blows on him.

"We need to get Autumn back to Big Green so Autumn can get medical help." Lin Chung said.

"I don't think we'll be able to leave for a while. Samo took some pretty heavy damage during the fight and is far too tired to travel, plus the ride back might irritate Autumn's wounds more." Tiger Lilly said.

"We should wait a few days then head back to Big Green." Alpha Girl said. "That way Autumn has time to heal."

Lin Chung nodded. "I'll talk to Coconut Crab King about staying for a few nights."

"I'll do it, you stay with your girlfriend." Goldeneye Husky said. "You guys should probably head inside, just because Twin Master's storm is gone doesn't mean it's not going to rain."

Just then thunder boomed overhead, making the heroes run inside to get away from the impending rain.

* * *

Lin Chung sat on his bed in the room given to him by Coconut Crab King to stay in. It was nearly sun up and he hadn't slept a wink. There were too many thoughts through his head. Like, why did he see those yellow eyes in his vision? As far as he knew he wasn't scared of the dark, (His panther vision helped him see in the dark) and there weren't any animals he feared with yellow eyes.

 _ **Knock Knock**_

"Lin Chung, are you awake?" Mighty Ray asked poking his head in.

"I am, what's up?" Lin Chung asked the shorter more solid.

Mighty Ray sat next to Lin Chung on the bed and cut straight to the point. "Your vison…. It wasn't your greatest fear or worst memory was it?" he asks.

"No it wasn't, why do you ask?" The gray-haired teen asked.

"The look on your face… I wasn't the same fear on the other victims, it was like you were confused or something." The darker skinned teen said.

Lin shifted a bit. "The truth is… I don't remember that moment at all. I would think the eye would bring up a memory that I would remember vaguely remember but it didn't ring a bell. I think it was a memory from before my parents found me."

"Wait found you? What do you mean?" Mighty Ray asked.

"When I was seven or eight my parents found me unconscious in the woods with my staff in my hand and covered in this weird purple blood. They brought me back to their home and raised me as their son since they didn't have any children of their own. I don't remember anything before they found me."

Mighty Ray was in shock. "So you don't remember anything? Not even what they looked like?"

"No, nothing."

Might felt bad for Lin Chung, at least he knew where he came from.

"Well, it's not important where you came from, it's important where you're going." Mighty Ray said. "At least that's what my dad used to say."

"Your dad sounds like a wise man."

Mighty Ray laughed. "Ha... If you knew him you wouldn't say that."

Before Lin Chung could ask what he meant Mystique Sonya ran in.

"Autumn's awake!" She said out of breath.

Autumn sat up in her bed, looking at her shaking hands. When the others came in, she couldn't meet their eyes.

"Autumn? How are you feeling?" Sonya asked softly.

Autumn shrugged and kept looking at her hands. The rest of First Squad exchanged worried looks.

"Tiger Lilly said you only sustained minor injuries so you'll be back to fighting in a few weeks, isn't that awesome?" Mighty Ray asked. "And with your new powers, you'll be able to kick twice as much butt!"

"NO!" Autumn yelled and squeezed her eyes shut. "No more fighting and no more powers! I'm done! I can't do this anymore!"

The other's backed up in surprise.

"I'm not a solider…. I'm just a high school student. My parents are the soldiers, not me! I never wanted to join the military and I never wanted to be a fighter!" she screamed with tears streaming down her face. "I don't even know why I was brought here…."

"Well, maybe we can answer that." The familiar voice of Sparky White said as he and his brother walked in.

The original members of the first squad took defensive positions around Autumn.

"What do you two want?" Mystique Sonya growled.

"Well we're kinda stuck here until we can find a way back to East Citadel and Coconut Crab King doesn't have any comics and we overheard you." Sparky Black said.

"And we'll tell you what your new powers are in exchange for one thing." Sparky White said.

"And what would that be?" Mighty Ray asked.

The zebras took out a small scroll with Japanese writing on it.

"It's a recipe for fried rice but we can't read it. We need someone to translate for us." Sparky White said.

The heroes of Big Green went quiet.

"You….two…. cook?" Jumpy asked in surprise.

"Of course we do, it's the only reason High Roller hasn't kicked us out yet! Who do you think makes all the candy he bribes the other animals with?" Sparky Black said.

"That….. makes a lot of sense actually," Sonya said.

"Here, give me the scroll," Autumn said.

Sparky White handed her the scroll and an extra scroll and a pen. Autumn wrote down a rough translation and handed it back.

"There, now please tell me what these powers mean!" Autumn said.

"Alright. You see a long time ago there was a group of humans and animals who worshiped the moon. They believed that the moon's light could give them special powers so they looked for ways to harness it." Sparky Black said.

"Like ghost lanterns?" Jumpy asked

Sparky White nodded. "A few of the animals who worshipped the moon were our ancestors, they harnessed the moon's light by using ghost lanterns. But one human named Cōngmíng Rén created a spell to infuse humans with moon power, turning them into Moon Soldiers. They would gain control of the moon's energy and use it in battle, making them stronger and faster than any of their enemies. But as years went on the emperor began to worry about what would happen if these soldiers went rough or worse if the spell was found by an enemy so he banned the spell and sentenced Cōngmíng Rén to death, but he escaped and fled the Hidden Kingdom. The spell was never seen again but a lot of animals still use moon magic today."

"If that's true then how did Charging Bull know the spell?" Autumn asked.

"Because Cōngmíng Rén didn't leave Hidden Kingdom." Tiger Lilly said as she leaned in the doorway. "My people knew Cōngmíng Rén by another name: Fire Moon. Fire Moon came back to Hidden Kingdom after twenty years and taught his spells to my ancestors and those spells have been passed down for generations. But the thing is, not everyone is compatible with the spell and it would usually wear off in a few days."

Autumn let all that information sink in.

"Could I be alone for a bit? This is a lot to take in at once…." she said quietly.

Everyone began to leave but Autumn grabbed Lin Chung's arm.

"Not you."

Lin Chung nodded and closed the door behind everyone after they left (although knowing his friends they'd probably be eavesdropping).

"Why did you want me to stay?" He asked.

"W-When you got your powers…. Were you scared? How did you feel?" she asked.

"Well I felt honored but at the same time scared that I'd misuse them and let my teacher down." Lin Chung said. "How do you feel?"

"Terrified… When I first heard that I had powers it hit me finally that this is permanent …. That I'm stuck here in Hidden Kingdom…" Alex said. "That's why I ran away before…"

Lin Chung held her hand. "Is that such a bad thing?"

"No… it just… I'm really going to miss my family, friends and my life back home…I'm scared"

The older teen filled his hand with a small amount of Harmonic Energy.

"I swear, I'll never let you fell scared again. I'll help you understand them and train you to become the best fighter you can be." He said seriously.

Autumn's hand filled with yellow energy, the same color as her moons. "I swear I'll stand by your side and train to become your equal." She said with a determined look on her face.


	16. Spell Bound

The trip back to Big Green was uneventful at most. Almost everyone was asleep, including Saltwater Crocodile King and Coconut Crab Princess, who were representing their respective kingdoms as they joined Big Green. The only two people who weren't asleep were Tempest and Lin Chung. Lin Chung was leaning against one of Samo's teeth with Autumn asleep on his lap and Tempest resting on his head on Autumn's leg.

Said teen was running his fingers through Autumn short red hair when his gaze drifted down to Autumn's leg and spotted one of the symbols that Coyote King had carved into her skin. His stomach dropped when he recognized it: It was the Chinese symbol for evil. On a gut feeling he moved some of the hair off her neck and saw the Chinese symbol for bind.

"Tempest something's wrong." He said.

"What do you mean?" Tempest asked.

He showed him the symbols.

"You do realize that I can't read Chinese right?" He said bluntly.

Lin Chung rolled his eyes slightly. "It's a spell. 'Bind' and 'Evil', Coyote King did something to her."

"What though?"

"I don't know, we're just going to have to keep an eye on her."

When they arrived Woo and Apetrully put Autumn on a psyche watch to make sure she was mentally sound enough to resume duty after she was recovered. Autumn was put in a room for twenty four hours after being put in a wheel chair for her broken legs.

"Commander Apetrully? Can we talk please?" Lin Chung asked the disguised Monkey King.

"Of course Lin Chung, what's on your mind?" Apetrully asked as they walked into Apetrully's office/room.

Lin Chung took out a small painting he did of Autumn's marks. "I found these on her neck and leg. I think its part of a spell."

Apetrully took the sketch and looked at it. The disguised monkey king's eyes widen.

"In my many years I've only seen this spell once before, in a book that Cheetah King gave me." Apetrully said. "You should talk to him."

"Well you're right Lin Chung, it is a spell." Cheetah King said. "The spell is know as the shadow curse."

"Shadow curse?" Lin Chung asked. "What is it exactly?"

Cheetah King and Lin Chung were walking down the halls of Big Green towards the special cell they were keeping Autumn in.

"The shadow curse is ancient magic created by the Fifth Emperor of Hidden Kingdom. He was a horrible and evil man but brilliant when it came to magic. One day a dancer refused to join his harem because she was married and he put the curse on her. The curse split her mind into two parts, good and evil." The Cheetah King explained. "The evil side manifested, attacked the dancer and killed her."

"Like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Lin Chung stated.

"Who?"

"It's a book Autumn told me about. There's a doctor who turns into his evil doppelganger after drinking a potion. The good half and evil half are always fighting and the doctor ends up dying in the end." Lin Chung explained. "That won't happen to Autumn right?"

"Well Twin Masters created an evil Autumn when he hypnotized her correct?" the speedy feline asked.

Lin Chung nodded

"Then the process has already started."

Autumn sat in her room reading:" _A History of Hidden Kingdom: The Rise and Fall of the Royal Family by Monkey King XXXII"._

" _The Emperor,_ _Bǎohù Zhě, was the nineteenth emperor of Hidden Kingdom and came into power on his twentieth birthday and married his wife, Empress_ _Wēnhé , when he was twenty one. The two were known as the warriors of peace as they only fought in order to end conflict."_

" _ **BORING!"**_ A voice yelled.

Autumn nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the voice. She looked around but saw no one and went back to reading.

" _When their son was born, prince_ _Tàiyáng, all of Hidden Kingdom celebrated and the emperor created a special task force to protect his son: The Warriors Ten._

 _The Warriors Ten was made of five humans and five animals. The five humans requested not to have their names recorded in this book but the animal are recorded below:_

 _Ram King, known as Stoic the Strong_

 _Hummingbird Queen, known as Comet the Quick_

 _Snow Leopard Queen, known as Duusuu the Wise_

 _Monkey King, known as Blayze the Clever_

 _Panther King, known as T'Challa the Resourceful."_

" **Seriously do you do anything interesting?** " The voice said again.

Autumn looked up and saw a shadow just floating at the foot of her bed.

The shadow was all black except for the red diamond shaped eyes and red marking on her leg and neck. Her 'hair' stuck up and moved it around like it had its own personal tornado blowing it around.

"Who are you?!" Autumn yelled as she held up her book ready to throw it.

"I'd think you'd recognize me." The shadow said as it floated closer to her.

Autumn's eyes widen in fear when she recognized the voice.

"Eclipse."

Lin Chung ran for Autumn's room when he heard a scream coming from her room.

"AUTUMN!"

Without a second thought the gray haired teen kicked Autumn's door down and saw Autumn being attacked by a shadow. Autumn had formed yellow barrier around herself as the shadow beat on the shield, creating black cracks. Sweat was starting to form on Autumn's forehead from the strain from keeping the force field up.

"You stupid little freak!" The shadow yelled. "Do you really think you can keep this up?"

"You're the freak!" Autumn yelled as she forced the barrier to expand, pushing it back. The shield

The shadow filled its clawed hand with black energy and attempted to punch trough the shield. Lin Chung took his staff and fired a bullet straight at the demonic shadow. The bullet passed right through the shadow, but it was enough to get its attention.

"Get away from her!" Lin Chung yelled.

The shadow flew past him and managed to slice his cheek before flying down the hall. Lin Chung felt the urge to follow and hunt down the shadow but the whimper behind him snapped him back to reality. He walked over to Autumn and held her close.

"I got you," Lin Chung whispered. "I got you."

Big Green went on lock down so they could make sure Eclipse wasn't in the base and so far they couldn't find her. Autumn sat in the meeting room with Jumpy while the others checked around their rooms and the docks. Jumpy kept his paw on Autumn's shoulder, who was shaking like a leaf. She kept rubbing the mark on her neck anxiously.

"It be okay." Jumpy said softly.

Autumn looked at the anthrophonic rabbit with a few tears in her eyes. "How can you be sure?"

"Jumpy just know."

"But what will happen if Eclipse comes back and no one is around? I don't know if I'm strong enough to take her on my own."

Cheetah King came in with Commander Apetrully. In the cheetah's paws a was an old dingy blue book with the phases of the moon drawn on the spine and 'Yuèliàng zhī shū' was written on the front cover of the book in sliver lettering.

"What's that?" Autumn asked.

"Its called the Book of the Moon and inside is a counter spell to spell Coyote King and Twin Masters put on you." Cheetah King said as he handed the book to her. "We also think the rest of the book can help you."

Autumn opened the book to the page that the king had bookmarked. The entire spell was written in Chinese charters and she had to wrack her brain to translate it. The first character she recognized was the character for 'pain' and the second one was the same character on her leg for 'bind'. The rest looked familiar but she couldn't remember if Parrot King had covered them in their lessons. The one that stood out was one she had seen in a Chinese comic book her Andy had brought home for her when she was nine.

"The only characters I recognize are pain, bind and death." she gulped " How does this help me?"

"This book was written by Cōngmíng Rén himself. These are his greatest spells." Commander Apetrully said.

"So I just have to recite this and Eclipse will vanish!" Autumn said with excitement .

"Its not that simple Autumn," the disguised monkey said. "Since the spell put on you was created by a member of the royal family you will need a member of the royal family to recite the counter spell to you on the night of a full moon."

Autumn wilted a bit. She knew that all the members of the royal family were killed when High Roller took over. The chances of finding any members of the royal family were slim to none. In blind anger the red head shot a wave of moon energy at the wall. Startled, the three royals backed up a bit.

"So its hopeless?! Eclipse is just going to keep attacking me until she kills me?!" she yelled.

"Maybe not." Commander Apetrully said calmingly. "Goldeneye Husky told me that he helped Prince Tàiyáng escape during the raid on the Jade Palace. He might be alive."

Autumn let the information sink in. _"If he is alive then he could have fled to one of the members of the Warriors Ten."_ She thought.

"We are going start an investigation and, with luck, we will find him." Cheetah King said.

Autumn nodded and set the book on the table.

"I think I know who might have the prince."

Lin Chung had finished his search for Winter Eclipse with no success. He then decided to check the surrounding woods and forests, just to make sure she wasn't anywhere near by. But when he reached the shore he found a box with a medal tied to the top with a black ribbon.

The box was roughly the size of his turtle and was made of red stained cheery wood. The medal was roughly the size of a silver dollar and made of solid gold. Engraved on the front of the medal was a panther paw holding a spear. On the back was the Yin-Yang symbol with the Chinese characters for dark and light replacing the two smaller circles. When Lin Chung opened the box he found a stack of neatly folded clothes and an elegantly carved note carved into a piece of wood.

The gray haired teen picked up the box and looked around. He didn't see anyone so he headed back inside with the box. As he walked down the hall he heard Autumn and Jumpy talking to Cheetah King and Commander Apetrully.

"So we'll be heading to the Panther Kingdom and see if we can talk to Panther King?" Autumn asked.

"After you check the Humming Bird, Ram, and Snow Leopard kingdoms." Commander Apetrully said.

Lin Chung felt his chest tighten at the mention of Panther King as he subconsciously put his hand on the part of his chest that was covered by his shirt and inhaled sharply. After eavesdropping for a good thirty seconds Lin went to his room and threw the box on the bed and sat down on his bed and put his head in his hands. A sense of dread and sadness filled him.

"I can't go back."

 **( Thanks to all my followers for favorting this story. I know I haven't posted in a while I have been busy with school, life in general and a sick pet. I would like to thank Trasformersfan12, Raven perze and my boyfriend Ben for being there for me. I highly recommend reading Traaformersfan12 stories.)**


	17. Journey for the Prince

First Squad was called to the meeting room the next morning. Mystique Sonya and Mighty Ray came in with Tempest and saw Autumn waiting for them with Jumpy, Mr. No-Hands, and Commander Apetrully. Autumn was dressed in her blue gi but had forgone the headband and pulled her hair into a bun with a black ribbon and a pair of dark purple hair sticks that contrasted from her dark red hair nicely.

"Where's Lin Chung? I'd thought he'd be the first to be here." Sonya said.

"He said he was going to be late and that he was dealing with something personal and just to start without him." Mr. No-Hands said.

"So what's this about?" Mighty Ray asked as he took an apple from the bowl of fruit on the table.

"This is about Prince Tàiyáng." Commander Apetrully said. "We have reason to believe that he is alive."

Yaksha fell off Sonya's head in surprise, Sonya's jaw dropped and Mighty Ray choked on his apple.

"A-Are you sure? How do you know for sure?" Sonya asked as Yaksha gave Mighty Ray the Heimlich.

"At first it was only a theory," Autumn said. "Goldeneye Husky told Alpha Girl, Kowloon, and Jumpy how he helped the then seven-year-old prince escape during the raid on the palace but then last night I had a dream."

 _Flash Back/Dream_

 _Autumn walked along and beautiful hallway. The walls were made of jade and gold, creating a beautiful and eye-popping combination of gold and green that made the whole hall glow with regality. Lining the wall were Ming vases of all shapes and sizes and painting of past royalty of Hidden Kingdom. The floor was made of milky white limestone tiles that were grouted with solid gold. The ceiling above her was made of pure gold with pieces of diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires lining the crown molding. Soon Autumn came to a wooden door with golden handles. She knocked and heard a young man's voice say 'come in' in Chinese._

 _Autumn pulled the doors open to reveal a beautiful garden filled some of the most beautiful flowers she had ever seen. There were dark red roses lining the terracotta brick path and vibrant pink orchids lining the brick walls. A handful of apple, cherry and peach trees littered the yard with fresh bright fruits hanging from the branches._

 _A young man, maybe nineteen or twenty years old was sitting at a table drinking tea. He stood up, letting the elaborate yellow robe fall to the ground. The robe was made of two layers, a shorter inner garment made of white silk and an outer yellow robe with gold embroidery that formed the pattern of ivy on the garment. He also wore a black piece of fabric around his waist. He wore gold cuffs on his wrist and a small golden crown in his black hair that was held up in a bun. His skin was a shade darker than her own, but she couldn't make out his face._

" _Nǐ hǎo yuèliàng huā." The young man said._

" _Beautiful moonflower? H-How do you know my last name?" she asked._

 _The young man walked closer, towering a good foot over her._

" _I have heard many tales of First Squad and Big Green," He said in a soft, but commanding voice that sounded all too familiar to her, but she couldn't put a name to it. "And I have learned that people are only now realizing I'm alive."_

 _Autumn felt her pulse quickened when she realized who she was speaking to._

" _Y-Your highness!" Autumn said nervously and bowed and bowed her head._

" _There is no need for that Autumn Moon." The prince said as he gently tilted her head up. "But I am alive, and you will find me."_

 _End of Dream/Flashback_

"How do we know this wasn't just a dream though? " Mighty Ray asked.

"Because if it was a dream or spirit was talking to Autumn I'd know," Tempest said. "Spirits can sense other spirits and while this did feel…. Off….. it was defiantly a person who's still alive sending a message."

"What if its Twin Masters or High Roller just messing with us?" Sonya asked.

Autumn took a small dream catcher out of her pocket. "It was a gift from Charging Bull. It keeps negative forces from getting into my head when I sleep."

The others nodded.

"So what do we do?" Sonya asked.

"We're going on a road trip so to speak." Mr. No-Hands said.

The lights dimmed and a projector shined a picture of a map of Hidden Kingdom on the wall. There were five green dots on the map; one to the north, one to the southeast, one to the northwest and one dead center of Hidden Kingdom. The fifth green dot was in the middle of the others but it had a black X on it.

"The red dots are the Snow Leopard, Ram, Panther, and Hummingbird kingdoms. We have to reason to believe the prince is hiding in one of these kingdoms." Autumn said.

"What's the kingdom with the X on it?" Mighty Ray asked.

"Monkey Kingdom," Jumpy said. "Monkeys no fight."

"Huh?"

"The Monkey King has ordered his subjects to stay out of the war but they take in refuges whenever they can," Apetrully explained. "They closed their borders six months ago, however, but they'll be on the lookout for the prince."

At that moment Lin Chung came into the room but he was dressed differently. Instead of his usual black half shirt and pants, he wore a black and gray kamishimo ( a samurai's kimono ) and had forgone his hat/helmet and pull his hair into a bun with one of Autumn's hair ties. On his back was his staff but now he carried a small dagger on his hip.

"Wow Lin Chung where did you get those clothes from?" Sonia asked.

"My parents sent them." Lin Chung said while rubbing the back of the neck. "So what's going ?"

They filled him in and Autumn took out another map.

"We're going to head to the Snow Leopard Kingdom first, then to the Ram Kingdom, after that the Hummingbird Kingdom and we'll end with the Panthers," Autumn said. "The only thing is we'll be passing through some pretty dangerous areas."

The new map showed ten black dots, five red dots, three brown dots, and two purple dots.

"The black dots are some animals Big Green has yet to befriend such as the echidnas, caribou, orangutans, vampire bats, Patagonia, golden pheasants, lemurs, coatimundi, axolotl, and honey bee kingdoms. While most of them have joined High Roller's side we believe we can make them our allies. The red dots are the lamprey, coyote, harpy eagle, beaver and viper kingdoms. They are the biggest High Roller supporters and we need to stay clear of them." Mr. No-Hands said.

Lin Chung rubbed his neck, remembering how much the Lamprey King's bite hurt.

"What's so scary about beavers?" Mighty Ray asked.

"Beavers big bullies!" Jumpy said while covering his scar with his ear. "Bite and hit and no nice!"

Everyone was shocked at Jumpy's outburst. The Rabbit King huffed and crossed his arms.

"Okay…. Anyway, the brown dots are human villages that completely oppose any unity with animals and the two purple dots are villages that are safe to stay in."

Sonya pointed to a village near the Caribou Kingdom, which was just a bit south of the snow leopards.

"There's a village called Shīqùle Hěnjiǔ, we can stay there and restock on supplies if need be." She said.

"There's also one down south near the Honey Bees, Liánhuā." Mighty Ray said.

Autumn added purple dots in those spots. Lin Chung looked at his friends.

"Your home towns?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not mine," Sonia says. "It was just nearby my home."

"Okay, then we'll leave in two days." Mr. No-Hands said. "Lin Chung, could you stay behind?"

Lin Chung nodded as the others left for their rooms.

Autumn sat in her room cleaning out her bag for their mission, letting her thoughts wander to the spellbook Cheetah King gave her. The spells were easily translated by Parrot King but Autumn couldn't understand why some of those spells were even created. Some of could destroy in a single shot, others were just strange but some of them would probably come in handy.

Out of curiosity she pulled the book out and looked at it. She had put colored book markers in order to separate the spells: Purple for spells that utilizes harmonic energy, green for spells that involved nature, yellow spells that only used moon energy (which took up a good seventy five percent of the book), fusion of energies in gray, and pink for healing spells. But there one spell she had marked in black, a spell that utilized Chaotic Energy, Harmonic Energy, and Moon Magic.

" _ **I call the darkness unto me**_

 _ **From deepest depths of earth and sea**_

 _ **Eclipse my heart with rightful power**_

 _ **Stand before me and cower**_

 _ **From ancient evils unawoken**_

 _ **Take my words as token**_

 _ **To Blackest night I pledge my soul**_

 _ **And crush my heart to burning coal**_

 _ **To Summon forth a deathly power**_

 _ **And see my hated foe devoured."**_

Autumn had read that spell over five times at this point but couldn't understand why Fire Moon would make such a dark spell, it destroyed any living thing completely: mind, body, and soul and unlike the other spell, there was no backstory to why it was created. It wasn't like she would use the spell, but she could.

Autumn opened her palm and watched some tiny sparks of red and blue swirl around in her palm. Lin Chung hadn't completely removed all Chaotic Energy from her, and she doubted he ever would. The book stated that everyone had a mixture of good and bad energy, specifically Harmonic and Chaotic Energy, it what keeps everyone balanced. But she didn't want anyone to know she was experimenting with Chaotic Energy, people might take it the wrong way.

"AUTUMN WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Someone yelled.

Autumn looked up and saw Mighty Ray standing in her doorway.

"I can explain!" Autumn said.

Mighty Ray backed away slowly and bolted down the hall towards Lin Chung's room. Autumn took off after him, using her magic to slow him down so Autumn could tackle him to the ground. She dragged him back to her room and closed the door.

"Would you let me explain?" Autumn asked.

"What's there to explain?! Twin Masters obviously still has some control over you! We need to tell Lin Chung before you try and kill us again!" the shorter teen said.

"If Twin Masters has control of me then how come I'm not strangling you right now?" Autumn asked.

"Er…. Okay, you have a point but why are you messing with chaotic energy anyway?" Mighty Ray asked.

Autumn opened The Book of the Moon and pointed out a few spells.

"A lot of these spells utilize a combination of different types of magical energies, including Chaotic Energy, Moon Magic, and Harmonic Energy." She said as flipped through. "There even a few spells that even mention your magical eyeballs." 

Autumn showed him a spell that when the lightning from the eyeballs combines with Moon Magic it can create an avatar as long as two people were completely focused on the spell.

"Wow, okay this is actually really cool." Mighty Ray said. "But the spells that use chaotic energy, are you sure they're safe?"

Autumn looked at her book. "To be honest, I'm not sure. But I won't know until I try."

 _ **That Night…**_

On the very edge of Hidden Kingdom were the ruins of what was once the Imperial Jade Palace. The once magnificent structure had begun to crumble and succumb to nature's will. Walls that were still standing were covered in Ivy and thorns. Vines grew around what were once brilliantly sculpted statues of past members of the royal family.

A small ball of yellow glittery energy flew up to the statues and bobbed up and down like it was bowing to each of the statutes. The yellow ball was soon followed a light purple ball of energy, black ball of energy, and a white ball of energy. The other balls of light copied the yellow one and soon all four of the lights made their way into what was once the throne room.

The once magnificent throne room was in shambles, creating a depressing atmosphere. There were claw marks on the wall, and judging by the size and shape, they were made by Bear Stomp during the raid on the palace twelve years ago. Along with the claw marks, there were burn marks, blood splatters, and faded spots where beautiful paintings once hung. But admits all the carnage and devastation there was some light of hope. Villagers and animals alike had created a shrine to the royal family with candles and flowers. The statues that were once the Emperor and Empress stood surrounded by flowers, candles, offerings, and incense. 

"It feels like only yesterday they were alive." The golden energy said. It has a very deep and strong voice as if saying the word 'move' would make the mountains themselves move.

"Indeed, but if we stay in the past we can't move forward." The purple energy said.

"Well some of us don't have that option." The black ball of energy growled. Its voice was deep and dark, as though the shadows themselves were speaking.

"Héxié is right, some of us are stuck in the past and can't move forward." The white ball said. "You said your student would help us move on Tien Khuan!"

"I know what I said." The purple energy said gently. "Just be patient."

Just then Tempest jumped out of a bush and shook himself.

"You're late." All of the energies said.

"Sorry. Couldn't you have picked a closer location to Big Green?" Tempest asked.

"We couldn't risk Lin Chung, Tiger Lilly, Charging Bull or Autumn sensing us." The gold light said.

Tempest sighed and nodded. "I understand, but what's the plan? Because from what I can figure is that there was a reason Autumn was brought here."

"The journey Autumn and the rest of First Squad are about to undertake is a test. If they complete their journey then we know for sure why Autumn is here." The white light said.

"And if they don't?" Tempest asked.

"Then all of Hidden Kingdom will be destroyed." The black energy said.

"Okay, what is with you?" Mystique Sonia asked Lin Chung as they walked back to their rooms from dinner.

"I don't know what you mean." Lin Chung said.

Sonia grabbed his wrist and stopped him.

"You changed your clothes, you changed your hairstyle and you were late for the meeting, which isn't like you. Something's on your mind." Sonia said.

Lin Chung looked around and then pulled Sonia into an empty room.

"What I'm about to show you must stay between us. You can't tell anyone, especially Autumn." Lin Chung said in a very serious tone.

"I won't tell I swear." She said.

"Alright, just don't freak out."

Lin Chung closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he exhaled his hair began to go from grayish blond to midnight black. He nails turn into sharp black claws and his skin darkened a few shades, revealing white panther makings on his arms and neck. His teeth lengthened and sharpened, becoming more animal than human. The teenager grew an extra six inches, making his once bulky muscles lean. When Lin Chung opened his eyes, his irises were dark green and his pupils were slit like cat eyes.

If someone were to come in at the moment they wouldn't know it was Lin Chung and Sonia, they would think Sonia was talking to a new member of Big Green.

Sonia backed up a bit in shock.

"You're… You're…."

Lin Chung gave her a small smile.

"I'm the son of the Panther King and Queen, Dewei Dishi."


	18. Here we go again

"So let's go over this again," Sonia said. "You're the son of the Panther King and Queen."

"Yes." Lin Chung said.

"Okay, so why do you look like a human/panther hybrid then?" She asked.

Lin Chung rubbed the back of his neck. "To be completely honest, I'm not completely sure why I look like this. My parents always said it was because I was raised by panthers."

Sonia nodded. "I can understand why you would want to keep this a secret but Autumn has the right to know who you are."

Lin Chung sighed. "You're right, and I will tell her."

Sonia smiled and left.

"When the time is right…" Lin Chung said as soon as she was out of earshot.

* * *

"I don't understand why I have to answer to you of all people." High Roller growled at Eclipse.

The being of darkness sat, well more like hovered, on High Roller's throne as she examined her claws.

"Simple, you fail at every task Twin Masters gives you. If our last plan had gone smoothly First Squad would be dead, all of Hidden Kingdom would be in eternal chaos and I would be free. But instead I'm here and you will be answering to me from now on."

"Oh? If I don't?" The short human asked.

Eclipse glared at High Roller.

"I am a manifestation of the darkness inside of a human soul, I am a literal demon. I could switch the holes in your face, rearrange your organs, turn your blood into acid, and then send your mutilated body to your mother. Do. Not. Test. Me." Eclipse said with her eyes glowing bright red.

High Roller gulped and back up a bit. "Y-Yes ma'am."

"Good, now that we have that settled, I have a mission for you. First Squad is going to search for the missing prince. You are going to follow them and once they find the prince you are going to bring him here. Take the Zebra Brothers and Bear Stomp with you."

High Roller nodded and ran before Eclipse decided to attack him.

Once High roller was gone Coyote King stepped out from the shadows.

"Do you trust him to get the job done?" the king asked.

Eclipse laughed. "Of course not, he's only a distraction. I'm sending Lamprey King, Beaver King, Harpy Eagle Queen, Viper Queen, and you. Once High Roller has First Squad distracted you five will snatch the prince and bring him here. Once he's here I have the prince use a spell to get my revenge on Autumn."

Coyote King quirked an eyebrow. "And how do you plan on doing that? If the prince is anything like his parents he won't attack a hero of Hidden Kingdom."

"You just leave that to me." She said. "I have a spy on the inside that will make sure that the prince plays into our plans."

* * *

 _Lin Chung walked a long dark path through the woods. Around him, hundreds of yellow eyes watched him from the trees. Suddenly he came to a dead cherry tree where Autumn sat. Her hair covered her face and she was wearing a long white dress that was covered in what he guessed was blood_

" _Autumn? What are you doing out here? Are you okay?" He asks._

" _You lied to me. You said you were a hero, you said you would protect me but you left me behind. You left me to die!" Autumn yelled in a voice that wasn't hers._

 _Lin Chung backed away slowly as Autumn once he recognized the voice._

" _Huā…"_

" _You left me to die and you disgraced your family! You're a disgrace!" She yelled._

 _Behind her, the tree began the change into a large snakehead with yellow eyes and lunged at him._

* * *

Lin Chung shot up in his bed in cold sweat with his heart pounding. His hair was messy from tossing and turning in his sleep. Getting up, he headed to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

When he finished getting ready he stepped out of the bathroom in clean clothes when he heard someone yell his name.

"Lin Chung!" Autumn yelled.

The redhead ran up to him, her hair was pulled back into a messy bun and she was wearing her yellow gi. If he had to guess she had just come back from her mediation session with Bison Chief.

"Hey, so can you meet me in the field after breakfast? There's something I want to show you." She asked.

"Sure, what is it?" He asked.

"That's a surprise," Autumn said and kissed his cheek and ran off.

Lin Chung smiled an touched his cheek. He loved Autumn, more than he loved nature and painting put together. She was brave, kind, and almost fearless. He was also aware of the attributes that she had that he did not.

For one, Autumn was a lot better at taking criticism than he was. Whenever she made a new painting she always asked for criticism from him and Camel King and always took their comments well, something he wishes he could do.

With a smile, he went to grab breakfast.

* * *

Autumn stood outside with the Book of the Moon in her arms.

"Okay breath, and relax," she told herself and pointed her hand at a nearby bolder.

Opening the book to one of the moon spells she recited the words on the page.

" _Noom tghin noitcurtsed!_ "

A golden chain shot from her palm and wrapped around the rock, crushing it into pebbles. The chain disappeared in a shower of golden sparkles. Autumn smiled and looked at another spell she bookmarked. She took a running start and jumped off a rock.

" _Noom thgil evig em thgilf._ " She yelled as she launched herself into the air.

For a brief second golden wing appeared on her back, lifting her into the air for a brief second.

"Ah! It worked! I'm flying!" Autumn yelled.

And just as quickly as the wings appeared, they vanished, causing Autumn to fall face-first into the dirt.

"Ouch, I almost had it." She said a pushed herself up.

"Pathetic." A voice said behind her said.

Autumn stood up and came face to face with a masked figure. The person was roughly the same height and both had the same shade of red hair. The figure wore a black ninja gi with red and blue stitching on the sleeves and legs and the Chinese symbol for chaos stitched over her heart. The figure wore black boots with metal tips. The mask was what caught Autumn's attention. The mask was a white Kabuki mask with red and blue lining the eyes and a single light blue tear falling from the left eye. At first, Autumn though it was Eclipse in disguise the figure had green eyes and Eclipse had red eyes.

Before Autumn could even ask the figure who they were the figure kicked her in the gut, knocking the wind out of her.

"Cheap shot," Autumn growls as caught her breath. "Now it's my turn."

Autumn's fist glowed yellow with moon energy and she took a swing at the figure, but the woman dogged with inhuman speed. One second she was in front of Autumn, the next second she was behind on the pile of rubble she had created earlier.

"You are pathetic, and you call yourself a member of First Squad?" The figure said.

"Shut up," Autumn growled and pointed her hand at her. " _Noom niahc noitcurtsed!"_

The golden chain wrapped around the girl. Autumn used the chain to slam the girl into the ground.

"Now tell me who you are!" the heroin yelled.

"My name is _Nǐ de jiéjú."_

"Your end? And let me guess you work for Twin Masters?" Autumn asked as she tightened the chain.

"Took you that long to figure that out?" the girl grunted.

Suddenly the chain began to turn red and dissolved around Nǐ de jiéjú. She got up and sent a blast of chaotic energy at Autumn, pushing her back. She blocked a majority of the blast with her arms but the force of the blast was pushing her into the ground. In desperation, Autumn called out a spell.

" _LLUF RETNUOC!"_ She shouted.

The chaotic energy began to intertwine with the moon energy and shape into a ball and shot right back at the kabuki masked girl. The sphere hit her square in the chest sending her flying into the air. Autumn put her hand over the moon on her chest. A disk of moon energy formed in her hand.

" _Noom Eebsirf!"_ Autumn yelled and threw the disk at her.

The disk hit the girl, knocking her back down to earth.

Autumn walked over to the girl but before she could get close the girl vanished and reappeared behind her. Before she could turn around Autumn felt what could only be described as a thousand tiny knives piercing her skin. Gasping in pain, the moon soldier dropped to knees in pain.

"You are pathetic. Why would Lin Chung ever be interested in you? You're weak." Nǐ de jiéjú said and stabbed Autumn in the back with a small knife.

Autumn growled. "Shut up."

"You're pathetic." She said, stabbing her again.

"Shut up!" Autumn gritted her teeth.

"He doesn't love you. He'll discard you like a broken fishing net." She said stabbing Autumn in her shoulder.

Autumn's eyes began to glow yellow. "I SAID SHUT UP!"

Autumn's fist glowed with moon energy and she hit her, sending her flying. Autumn 's hair began to stand straight up with yellow streaks forming in her hair. A look of pure rage was on her face. She formed a ball of energy in her hand but before he could fire it she heard someone call her name.

"Autumn?" Lin Chung said.

The gray-haired teen had come out with the rest of First Squad and Tempest. The group stood with a look of shock on their faces.

"Guys?" Autumn asked as her hair returned to normal and the energy ball dissipated.

Nǐ de jiéjú took the distraction to shoot Autumn with a blast of chaotic energy before diving into the water and swam away. Autumn yelled in pain and dropped her knees.

"Autumn are you okay?" Sonia asked as she ran over to her friend.

"I'm f-"

Suddenly Autumn lost her ability to speak. A of her muscles were screaming in pain and felt like they were replaced with lead. She fell the ground unable to move.

"Autumn!" Lin Chung yelled.

Autumn couldn't hear her boyfriend calling her name, all she could hear was her heartbeat and soon she heard nothing.

When Autumn woke up, she was in her room with Tempest standing on her chest.

"Oh thank the sun you're alive!" Tempest said.

Tempest got off of Autumn and ran out to get the rest of Autumn's friends.

Autumn stared up at the ceiling as she waited. Everything hurt! Her arms and legs felt like lead and her head felt like someone had replaced her brain with a thousand angry bees and stuffed her mouth with sand. She tried to move her hand but it hurt so much.

" _Did the chaotic energy do this or…. Did I do it to myself?"_ Autumn wondered.

Autumn closed her eyes and fell back asleep.

* * *

" **You failed to kill Autumn Moon and you dare show your face here?!"** Twin Masters yelled at Nǐ de jiéjú.

Nǐ de jiéjú rolled her eyes.

"Technically you sent me to hurt her, you never specifically said kill." She said.

Twin Masters growled and shot the redhead with a blast of the chaotic blast, knocking the mask off her face and revealed Lady Green.

"I would keep your mouth shut Lady Green unless you want your identity revealed." Twin Masters growled.

The former head of Big Green's Navy growled and put her mask back on. Lady Green had come to Twin Masters over a month ago wanting revenge on Autumn for stealing Lin Chung from her. Just the thought of her fellow redhead made her angry enough to kill the guy she once had feelings for. Her feelings of love for Lin Chung had died with her old self. Even if the thought of his big strong arms wrapped around her as he pulled closer, his lips on her lips-

" _STOP THAT!"_ She thought as she shook her head.

"Your next mission is to follow First Squad on their journey and make sure Eclipse's plan goes as planned, I don't trust High Roller not to mess this up."

"Yes, master." Lady Green said and bowed and left.

The sailor walked back to Big Green with hate in her heart. How _**DARE**_ Lin Chung chooses the newbie over here?! She thought they'd be the power couple of Big Green, after all, they were the most compatible couple and the two most gifted fighters in all of Big Green, it made sense that they would be together.

"I swear Lin Chung I'll make you pay for breaking my heart!" She yelled.

* * *

When Autumn woke up she found herself looking at the night sky. Millions of stars shined above her. They seemed so close as if she could just reach up and grab them. She then realized she was on the roof of Big Green as the cold air hit her face.

"You're awake." The familiar voice of her boyfriend said from behind her.

Turning around she saw Lin Chung coming out of a hatch with a blanket.

"How long have I been out?" Autumn asked as she pushed her self into a sitting position, wincing as her muscles were still sore.

"Easy now." Lin Chung said. He set the blanket down and helped her sit up. "Woo and Tiger Lilly said your body never really recovered from Twin Master's possession and that battle this morning wiped out your energy reserves. You're going to have to take it easy for a while, which means no using your powers for a while."

"But what about the mission? If we're attacked I need to be able to defend myself." Autumn said looking up at him.

Lin Chung rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "About that…."

Autumn narrowed her eyes. "About what?"

Lin Chung sighed. "It might be best if you stay here. If you aren't at full strength you're an easy target."

"Hey I was kicking butt before I got these powers and I can kick butt without them," Autumn said.

"And I'm not saying you aren't, I just don't want what happened on Coconut Crab Island to happen again." He said.

Autumn sighed and pulled her knees up to her chest. Lin Chung sat next to Autumn and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. The redhead reluctantly rested her head on her boyfriend's chest. For a few minutes, they sat in silence, listening to the waves as they hit the Big Green base.

"I still going," Autumn said. "If I stay here I'll be a sitting duck for Eclipse."

Lin Chung sighed. He knew he couldn't discourage Autumn form going on the mission but I wouldn't keep him from worrying.

"Okay, but we're getting you a new weapon and I'm going to teach you some more fighting techniques alright?" Lin Chung said.

Autumn smiled and kissed his cheek. " Okay, but if we're going to train together you can't go easy on me."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

* * *

The next morning Autumn went down the armory with the rest of First Squad.

"Why did we have to get up at four in the morning to go down to the armory again?" Mighty Ray asked.

"I figured if Autumn is getting a new weapon we all should." Lin Chung explained. "And we're leaving in a few hours anyway, so this will give us some time to get used to our new weapons."

When they arrived at the armory Autumn was surprised at the number of weapons Big Green had. Walls upon walls were covered in weapons of all sorts, from simple wooden clubs to elegantly forged swords. One section of a wall seemed to be dedicated to Woo's inventions entirely, such as his corn machine gun. The group spread out, each looking at the different kinds of weapons. Autumn walked around looking at the various weapons she could choose from. There were swords, whips, daggers, spears, shields, giant hammers and axes, smoke bombs, spiky balls on chains and many more.

Autumn watched as each of her friends picked out a new weapon, even Tempest who found some metal teeth. Sighing, Autumn walked up and down the rows of weapons, gently brushing them with her hand. Suddenly a small spark hit her hand, making Autumn look at two unassuming weapons that hung on the wall.

"You find something Autumn?" Lin Chung asked.

"Yeah," Autumn said taking the weapons off the wall. "I think I did."

* * *

 **( SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry for not updating sooner. I've had a lot of stuff going on and not a lot of time to write! But I want to share some of my inspiration and insight for a few of my characters.**

 **Autumn Lilly Moon: Autumn was based on a few of my favorite anime characters such as Lucy Heartfilia, Ezra Scarlet, Sailor Moon and a few other characters such as Merida from Brave, Piper from Percy Jackson, Star Butterfly from Star vs the Forces of Evil and Hermonie from Harry Potter. Autumn is one half native America off her dad's side, and one-fourth Irish and Scottish off her mother's side. Unlike most members of Big Green, she eats meat and eggs. Her favorite color is blue.**

 **Winter Eclipse: Eclipse was based on Bill Cipher from Gravity Falls, Hawk Moth from Miraculous: Tales of Lady Bug and Chat Noir and the Supreme King from Yugioh Gx. She is everything Autumn isn't, and despite being a creature of evil and darkness she still has a bit of humanity in her.**

 **Tempest: Tempest was inspired slightly by Happy from Fairy Tail and Hawk from Seven Deadly Sins but mainly from the native American story about Coyotes and my dog Yugi.**

 **Charging Bull: he was inspired by my dad and a bit of my mom.**

 **Tiger Lilly: She was based on Merlin and Diana from Seven Deadly Sins with a bit of Eclipsa from Star vs. The Forces of Evil.**

 **Most of Autumn's spells are based off anime fighting techniques and moves with a few Disney spells mixed in and others. All the spells are backward.  
**

 **That is all**


	19. Magic

First Squad stood on the beach looking at the Big Green base for what could be the last time. The search for the prince was going to be one of their most dangerous missions yet and they didn't know if they'd make it back alive.

"Not going to lie, I'm worried this is the last time we'll see Big Green base," Sonia said.

"Same. This place has become my second home." Autumn said. "It seems like yesterday I woke up in the infirmary with you guys standing over my bed."

"Come on guys we can't think like that. We're going to find the prince, find the prince and break Autumn's curse." Mighty Ray said. "It'll be a piece of cake."

"I wouldn't say that Mighty Ray, who knows what could be waiting for us." Mr. No-Hands said.

Lin Chung nodded. "We'll be traveling through some of the most dangerous regions of Hidden Kingdom, we need to be prepared for anything."

First Squad was soon met by Mustang King and five of the members of his court who would be acting as their transportation on their journey. When Autumn had asked about the turtles Apetrully explained that this was the time of year where the turtles would be laying their eggs and the turtles that helped First Squad were mainly females, except for Mighty Ray's turtle.

"Are you okay Lady Autumn?" Autumn's horse, Capall, asked her.

Capall towered over Autumn by a good twelve inches, making him the second tallest out of the team of mustangs. His coat was a dusty yellow/brown with white main and tail.

"I'm okay Capall, just… I'm scared…. Something about this isn't sitting right with me…" Autumn said as she got on the horse's back.

"Maybe you ate some bad eggs this morning," Tempest said poking his head out of Autumn's backpack.

"That's not it," Autumn said. "And who said you could hitchhike in my bag?!"

"Guys, let's get going." Lin Chung said as he mounted Mustang King. "We should be able to get to the Snow Leopard Kingdom in a few days. We'll stop in Shīqùle Hěnjiǔ to restock supplies."

The other members of First Squad nodded and soon they were off, the hope of finding the prince burning bright in their hearts.

* * *

First Squad had been traveling for a good eight hours when Mighty Ray started to whine.

"Ugg….. Can we stop? My legs fell asleep an hour ago." He asked.

"Yeah, mine too." Sonia agreed.

"And I think my men could use a break, Lin Chung." Mustang King said.

"Alright, I think there's a creek up ahead." Lin Chung said. "We'll stop there for a bit

They came to a small creek and dismounted the mustangs. The horses went and got a drink while Lin Chung, Mighty Ray, Jumpy, Tempest and Mr. No-Hands checked the map.

"If we cut through the woods here," Mighty Ray said pointing to a large gap that passed between the Lemur Kingdom and the Orangutan Kingdom. "We can cut our time in half."

"The Lemurs and Orangutans are some of the most dangerous animals in Hidden Kingdom." Lin Chung said. "I say we continue our original route."

"Who cares about some monkeys? If we stick to the thicker brush they won't see us." Tempest said.

"I agree with Mighty Ray and Tempest." Mr. No-Hands said. "If we have a chance to cut our time in half I say we take it."

While the guys planned their route, Autumn and Sonia filled their canteens with some water. During the entire trip, Autumn had noticed that Sonia seem kind of quiet and distant. The darker haired girl seemed to be lost in thought as she filled her canteen.

"You okay Sonia? You haven't been acting like yourself since we left." Autumn asked.

Sonia looked at her friend and smiled, but the smile did not reach her eyes. "Of course I am." She said.

Autumn frowned. "Are you sure?"

Sonia nodded. "I'm fine, don't worry."

Autumn wasn't fooled, but she let it go for now.

* * *

When First Squad got back on the road Autumn pulled Capall closer to Sonia and her mustang Uma. Uma was the only female in the group so she was smaller than her male counterparts. Uma had a cream-colored coat with a black mane and tail that Sonia had braided with some pink ribbons. Uma was also a bit wider than the other horses. She claimed it was all muscle.

"Spill it, Sonia. You're acting funny." Autumn said. "Is there something you're not telling us about Shīqùle Hěnjiǔ?"

Sonia sighed and slowed Uma down. Autumn did the same so the two were out of earshot of the others.

"Shīqùle Hěnjiǔ….. The people living there are….. Well, you'll see. I'm regretting even bringing that place up." Sonia said.

"Why? Did something happen there?"

Yaksha wrapped his arms around Sonia in a comforting hug as Sonia looked down.

"Sonia, you can tell me. I'm your friend." Autumn said gently and placed her hand on the other girl's shoulder.

Sonia squeezed her eyes and shrugged Autumn's hand off her shoulder and edged Uma faster. Autumn frowned. There was something Sonia wasn't telling them.

First Squad continued to travel until the sun started setting.

"How far are we from Shīqùle Hěnjiǔ?" Lin Chung asked.

Autumn looked at the map. "Still pretty far, about another day if we take the short cut, but there is a town just over the next hill, we should see if there's an inn we can stay in for the night."

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

That night Autumn couldn't sleep.

"Tempest, you awake?" Autumn whispered as she nudged the coyote who was sleeping on the edge of her bed with her foot.

Tempest yawned and rolled onto his back. "I murdered the cowboy king…" Tempest muttered in his sleep.

Autumn sighed and looked over at Mystique Sonia who was fast asleep on the other side of the room. Yaksha, however, was rolling over restlessly as it tries to get comfortable on the tiny bed.

"Yaksha," Autumn whispered. "You wanna sneak out and check out the town?"

The pink gremlin nodded and jumped onto Autumn's head. Autumn grabbed one of her fans and one of her newer weapons, a black leather whip, from her bag and attached it to her hip before leaving the room.

The town itself was not very big, to begin with, a couple of homes here and there, a tavern, a few businesses, a temple, and a market.

"Geeze, I've seen shopping malls bigger than this place." Autumn whistled.

Yaksha made a chittering sound and pointed towards the tavern, which despite it being close to three in the morning, was packed with people and animals alike. Autumn peaked through the window and saw various animals, such as orangutans, cheetahs, zebras, and humans drinking at the bar and playing darts.

One man who looked like a mix of Chuck Norris and Hugh Jackman with dark hair and a bushy beard and sideburns turned to a female zebra and glared.

"I thought yer kind didn't like humans." He slurred, obviously drunk.

The zebra looked up. Her fur was dark blue almost back color with silvery-white markings that made her look more like one of those Halloween skeleton costumes you would see at the discount store. Her eyes were milky white but she glared back at the man as if she could see him.

"It's just those two idiots that joined High Roller's side that don't like humans." The zebra said as she sipped her drink. "But if you are referring to animals in general, not all animals joined that little twerp."

"Indeed," A dark orange orangutan said. "Some of us are more worried about our wars to be worried about some megalomaniac man child."

The other animals in the tavern mumbled in agreement.

"Could be worse, we could be used as potion ingredients for those witches in Shīqùle Hěnjiǔ." A cheetah said.

The entire bar grunted in agreement.

"Witches?" Autumn whispered.

"You know I heard one of the witches is working for Big Green." One patron said.

"That red-headed girl with the moon marks? Heard she started that storm on Coconut Crab Island a few weeks ago."

"I heard she charmed her way into Big Green with a spell." Another patron said.

"She's got Lin Chung under a spell too." Another guy said. "She's even got a familiar."

"Well if I see her I'm going to burn her at the stake." The Chuck Norris looking guy slurred as he took a swig of whatever alcohol he was drinking.

The blind zebra rolled her eyes. "Just because someone practices magic does not make them a witch."

The other animals in the bar nodded.

"What do you know ya flea brains?" A drunk woman said.

A dark blue cheetah smashed his bottle on the side of the bar and pointed it at the woman.

"YOU WANNA SAY THAT AGAIN YOU OLD HAG?!"

Soon everyone in the bar was fighting and throwing things. Autumn took the chance to run before anyone could spot her but one thought lingered with her, could Sonia be a witch?

Looking at Yaksha, Autumn figured that he could be Sonia's familiar, an animal or creature that was not the only extension of the witch or wizard but aided in their endeavors.

"Yaksha, is Sonia a witch?" Alex asked the gremlin.

Yaksha made a small chittering noise and shook his head no.

"Am I a witch?" She asked which Yaksha replied with another no.

"So what's the difference between a magic user and a witch?"

As they walked back to the inn Yaksha noticed a light coming from one of the stores. He pointed to it but Autumn didn't seem to notice. The sentient headwear stretched it's arm and pulled Autumn towards the store.

"Hey!"

One at door the red-head glared at the pink headwear, but before she could scold the hat the two heard a whimpering sound followed by a horse 'Help'.

Autumn opened the door and found that the store was a book store. There were at least twenty-five bookshelves filled with books of all sorts, from fiction to spellbooks.

"Woah," Autumn mumbled.

"Someone help…." The voice said again.

Autumn walked to the back of the store and found a fallen shelf on top of an older woman, possibly forty years old. The woman had black hair with gray streaks forming in her hair that was cut into a textured bob. She wore a green and blue dress and black slip-on shoes. Her skin was the same color caramel with white scars on her hands and arms. Deep amber eyes looked around for help.

"Is someone there? Can you please help me?" the woman asked.

"Of course!" Autumn said.

Yaksha lifted the bookshelf off the woman as Autumn used her powers to levitate the books off the woman and back onto the shelf in alphabetic order. The old woman pulled herself up into a standing position with Autumn's help.

"Are you okay?" Autumn asked.

The old woman readjusted her large round-rimmed classes and picked up her cane and hobbled back to the front of the store like nothing happened.

"Yes, I'm okay." She said.

Autumn was surprised by how quickly the woman recovered from the incident.

"You sure? I mean an entire bookshelf fell on you, don't you wanna go to a doctor or something?" she asked worriedly.

The old woman went to the front desk and pulled a teapot that was boiling on a small burner and poured herself a cup.

"I've handled worse. One time I went toe to toe with the former Bear King with nothing more than a quill and a piece of paper."

Autumn quirked an eyebrow and Yaksha crossed its arms in disbelief.

"What did you do? Write him a strongly worded letter?" She asked.

The woman laughed. "You don't know how many times I've gotten that response. No, I didn't write a letter, I wrote a spell."

The older woman took out a small piece of paper and quill from her desk and wrote the Chinese character for bird. Immediately the paper transformed into a small bird and began to fly around the room, it even left tiny paper feathers everywhere it went.

After the bird made a few laps around the room it transformed back into a piece of paper with the character for bird on it.

Autumn was amazed and it must have shown on her face ask the old woman laughed.

"I'm guessing you've never seen mage magic at work before," she laughed. "My name is Jilpa Zhou, and yours?"

"I'm Autumn Moon." The redhead said.

Jilpa tilted her head. "Autumn Moon? What an unusual name. I take it that you aren't from Hidden Kingdom."

"You could say that," Autumn nervously laughed. "And I have seen magic before, I can even do some myself, but your magic seems so simple but beautiful."

Jilpa poured two more cups of tea for Yaksha and Autumn. "Well, everyone's own magical energies differ, even if two people have the same type of energy."

"I don't understand," Autumn said as she drank her tea.

The older female took out another piece of parchment and drew two identical figures. "Say that two people are gifted with the use of, oh let's say Harmonic Energy."

Both of the figures began to glow purple and walk around on the paper.

"One person might use their powers for fighting and the other may use the power for healing."

Jilpa drew a dead person and one of the other figures zapped it, bringing it back to life.

"The other might use his or her powers for fighting, rather than healing."

The other figure made a tiny sword and ran off the page swinging the sword.

Alex blinked in surprise.

"The point is that magic changes from person to person," Jilpa said and crumpled up the paper. Autumn swore she heard the little drawings scream.

* * *

Lin Chung woke to the light of the rising sun shining in his face the next morning. Throwing his clothes on her went to get Autumn so they could start their first day of training together. As he opened the door to the hall he heard Mystique Sonia and Tempest scream from down the hall which also the other members of First Squad.

"YAKSHA/AUTUMN!"

The gray-haired teen ran down the hall and threw the door open and found that Autumn and Yaksha were nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Autumn?" Lin Chung asked.

"I don't know! I just woke up and they were gone!" Sonia said panicked.

Tempest sniffed Autumn's sheets and then sniffed the air.

"They're close, follow me!" the coyote said and ran out of the inn.

First Squad followed the dog until they came to a large dawn redwood tree where Autumn and Yaksha laid fast asleep surrounded by books. Mighty Ray picked up one of the books and read the title.

" ' _A History of Magical Items of Hidden Kingdom by Monkey King XXXII'_?" He read aloud.

Sonia picked up another two books. " ' _A Witch's Guide to Herbs by Peacock King VIII'? 'Mages, Witches, Wizards, Sorcerers and More by Hei Mao_ '? When Did Autumn get so into magic?" She asked.

Lin Chung picked up another book titled _'Bonds of Animals and Humans by T'Challa the Panther King'_ with a page marked with a spell talk could make a human half animal. While the other's tried to wake Autumn and Yaksha up he quickly ripped the page out and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Come on Autumn wake up!" Mr. No-Hands said. "Mighty Ray, do you think you shock her awake?"

"I think I have a better idea," Tempest said. "You might want back up."

The coyote took a deep breath as everyone backed up and shouted: "AUTUMN LILLY MOON YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR SCHOOL GET YOUR ASS IN GEER!"

Autumn woke up and shot up like a bullet "Aw shit! Where's my backpack and- wait a second…" Autumn realized she was under a tree and not in her bedroom.

The original members of First Squad burst out laughing. Autumn's face turned bright and she began to chase Tempest.

" **I'M GOING TO TURN YOU INTO A WINTER COAT YOU OVERGROWN POMERANIAN!** " She yelled.

"I didn't do anything!"

* * *

"So you were up all night reading books a mage gave you?" Lin Chung asked.

First Squad had gone back to the inn to eat breakfast before getting back on the road. Autumn nodded as she ate her oatmeal.

"And she just gave you the books? Free of charge?" Sonia asked. "Sounds suspicious. You sure she wasn't High Roller in disguise?"

"Positive. I've watched enough Pokemon to spot a bad disguise a mile away." Autumn said.

"What Poke-mon?" Jumpy asked.

"It's an anime and video game, but that's the point," Autumn said. "Look I'll even take you to her book store after breakfast. She's nice."

After breakfast, Autumn lead them to where the bookstore was supposed to be, but instead of a store, there was a large oak tree.

"B-But it was right here! I swear!" Autumn said in disbelief.

"Maybe you dreamed the store up and found the books." Mighty Ray said.

"I swear I didn't! I know what I saw." The read head said.

"It doesn't matter, we need to get back on the road." Mr. No-Hands said.

Autumn bowed her head in defeat and looked at Yaksha. "Maybe we did dream it."

First Squad walked away from the tree and headed back to the mustangs.

Up in the tree, Jilpa held a sketchbook with a drawing of the book store on it. Next to her a red monkey with a white flame symbol on his stomach.

"You almost blew my cover Blayze, or is it Apetrully now?" Jilpa glared with a joking tone. "It's your fault if High Roller finds me."

"I had to test them. Even with Mr. No-Hands and Jumpy in on the plan I had to make sure they're ready." The red monkey king said.

Jilpa sighed. "Are you sure about this? They seem like perfectly normal people."

The Monkey King nodded. "I'm certain that one of the members of First Squad is the Warrior of Yin."

Jilpa watched First Squad ride out of town. "Good luck First Squad may fortune smile upon you."

* * *

 **JILPA ZHOU SECOND MEMBER OF THE WARRIORS TEN ALSO KNOWN AS JILPA THE TEACHER.**


	20. Of Lemurs and Orangutans

"Keep your guard up Autumn!" Lin Chung said as he swung his staff at Autumn's legs, knocking her on her butt.

"I'm trying! You're the one who keeps knocking me down!" Autumn yelled as she forced her self up, only for Lin Chung to knock her down again. "Stop that!"

Lin Chung smiled. "You need to anticipate, defend and then attack. You've got the attacking part down, but you need to work on the other two."

Autumn looked her boyfriend straight in the eyes and swept his legs out from under him. She then grabbed his staff and pointed it at his head. The look locked eyes for a second before they both burst out laughing. Autumn offered her hand to help him up, only for Lin Chung to pull her down with him! The two continued to laugh as friends watched from nearby with the mustangs.

"It's amazing how laid back Lin Chung is when he's with Autumn." Mighty Ray said as she watched Autumn flip him over her shoulder. "It's like he's a different person."

Sonia frowned. "Yeah, a different person."

Ever since she had seen Lin Chung as the Panther Prince she couldn't see him in any other way. Part of her was worried that he was in some sort of danger and that's why he was keeping his identity a secret. Another part of her was angry that he had lied to them for so long. They had known each other for years and only now did he tell her about this? It made her mad just thinking about it. But there was a part of her that understood why he did it, after all, she had done the same.

* * *

As the team road through the woods, Sonia decided she needed to talk to Autumn alone, but she needed a distraction. Luckily Tempest hade decided it would be a good time to poke his head out of Autumn's bag.

"Hey, can we stop and eat?" The coyote said.

"Can't you wait? It's just a few more hours till we get to Shīqùle Hěnjiǔ." Autumn said as she read one of her new spellbooks. "We can find a place to eat there. And besides, you ate a pretty large breakfast."

"Yeah of bread and milk. If I don't get some protein soon I'm going to eat Big Ears over there." Tempest growled as he looked at Jumpy and licked his lips, making the rabbit king a bit wary of the hungry carnivore.

"I have some beef jerky in there, it should tide you over until we get there."

"But I ate that already…." Tempest whined.

Autumn growled and put her book in her saddlebag. As she rubbed her head to keep her head from hurting.

"Hey, how about I make us lunch?" Sonia interjected.

"That sounds like a great idea." Lin Chung said sensing that Autumn was going to do something she would later regret.

The group stopped by a nearby lake and began to prep for lunch as the horses ate some nearby grass.

"Hey Autumn? Do you mind helping me look for some ingredients?" Sonia asked.

"Sure," Autumn said as she grabbed her bag, minus the annoying furball.

"Hey be careful you two, we're not too far from the Orangutan and Lemur castles. Stick to the thicker brush." Mr. No-Hands said.

"Got it!" the girls said as they headed towards to woods.

After the girls had been gone for a while a Tempest's and Jumpy's fur began to stand up on end and the two animals took fighting stances. Suddenly darts made of bamboo stalks shot from the trees towards the group. Jumpy was able to deflect the darts with his rope and Tempest managed to dodge them with unnatural speed.

When the darts stopped twenty lemurs dropped from the tree. The lemurs were only two and a half feet tall and were with light brown/gray fur on their abdomens and heads and black fur on their paws and ears and rings of black on their tails. Each lemur carried a long dart shooter and had several darts strapped to their chests and wore little black bandanas on their heads.

"We are the Lemur's Queen Royal Guard, state your business and reasoning for trespassing." One of the lemurs said.

"We're just passing through and we stopped for lunch." Lin Chung said.

"Then why did two of you head into Orangutan territory?" another lemur said.

Lin Chung felt his heart stop. Autumn and Sonia had just walked into the territory of some of the most dangerous animals in the entire kingdom. The fear its self was almost enough to make the young man transform into his hybrid form, almost. If it hadn't been for Tempest's next words he probably would have blown his cover.

"Does this mean lunch is canceled?"

* * *

"So is there something you wanted to talk about?" Autumn asked Sonia as she gathered some herbs.

Sonia sighed. "I should have told you this sooner but Shīqùle Hěnjiǔ is full of people with powerful magic who will do anything to get what they want. I mean anything."

Autumn was taken back a bit. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I don't want you to end up like me," Sonia said,

Before Autumn could finish her sentence the two girls were hit by purple darts.

"OUCH/SHIT!" They cried out.

Yaksha yanked the darts out the girls.

Autumn rubbed her arm and suddenly began to feel dizzy.

"I'm getting flashbacks to the plains…." Alex said as she swayed and fell to the ground as she passed out.

Sonia fell to the ground and before she passed out she saw a pair of hand-like feet.

"Looks like we have two new specimens." A voice said.

When the girls woke up they found themselves in very a very bright room chained to the wall by their wrists. Next to Sonia Yaksha was tied into a giant knot unable to move. Sonia could feel something around her neck, and when she looked over at Autumn she saw that the moon magic-user was wearing a metal collar around her neck.

"Oh, my head…" Sonia groaned.

"Shit… I feel like I lost a kickboxing match with Kangaroo King…." Autumn complained. "Where the hell are we?"

"Tsk tsk, such langue." A voice said.

Suddenly Autumn felt what could be described as millions of volts of electricity coursing through her body coming from the collar in the form of red and blue sparks.

"AGGGGHHHHH!" Autumn screamed.

"Autumn!" Sonia yelled as her friend continued to scream. "Who are you? Why are you doing this?!"

The lights dimmed enough so that Sonia could see their kidnapper. She was excepting High Roller or Eclipse but much to her surprise a large orangutan wearing half-moon glasses. The orangutan was roughly seven feet tall with thick red fur similar to Autumn's red hair. The primate's arms were much long her than his body, so much so that they dragged on the floor and if Sonia had to guess his arm span was approximately ten feet. The most imposing thing about him was not just his size (he had to weigh over four hundred pounds) but was the look of complete madness in his red and blue eyes.

"I am the Orangutan King, Fēngkuáng." He said bowing. "And you lovely young ladies are my newest specimens."

Autumn glared at the overgrown orange ape.

"What do you mean by 'specimens'?" She asked breathing hard.

The simian walked closer to the girls, revealing several pieces of medical equipment such as an operating table, different kinds of knives, needles and empty cages.

"You see we orangutans see humans as they originally saw us: filthy, savage creatures who treated us no better than the scum on their shoes. So began to…. experiment with them." The king said sinisterly.

The girls looked at each other, neither of them wanted to know what 'experiments' they preformed on innocent humans.

"At first it was seeing how they would react to electroshock and withdrawing food for a few days. Then some wealthy humans would pay us to…. domesticate…. some rebellious slaves or children, mainly daughters. But then I discovered, with help from Twin Masters, on how to turn humans into animals," He said. "Permanently."

"And what makes you think you're going to be able to turn us?" Sonia growled.

Orangutan king gestured to their bindings. "And don't think you're going to use magic to get out of this. Those collars were made by Twin Masters and they block all magical energies by using chaotic energy. It was originally meant for Lin Chung but you two will do."

Sonia and Autumn glared.

"You do realize Twin Masters is just using you right?" Sonia said.

"And once he's done with you he'll kill you!" Autumn said.

Fēngkuáng laughed. "That's fine with me! I have nothing to lose!" He said grinning like a maniac. "Now you two stay here and I'll be back with the serum, not like you have much of a choice."

Once he left Autumn lets out a long stream of curses that would make the most seasoned sailor blush, only to get shocked after each one. Tears of pain rolled down her cheeks as she screamed.

"Autumn stop! You're just hurting yourself!" Sonia yelled.

The shocking stopped and Autumn breathed heavily. It was evident that the chaotic energy was sapping her energy as she slumped forward.

" _How are we going to get out of this?"_ Sonia asked herself as the looked down at the knotted up Yaksha on the ground. "Any ideas on how to get out of this?" She asked Autumn.

The redhead looked at her still breathing hard. "Just one," She said. "but it's a long shot."

"I'll try anything at this point. I've been turned into an animal against my will before and it's not pleasant."

Autumn took a deep breath and screamed, " _ **TEMPEST!**_ "

* * *

Tempest's head jerked up ad he swore he heard Autumn scream his name.

"Autumn?" He said.

"Hey, coyote, focus please." One lemur said. "We still have a few more questions."

"Fine, just make it fast," Tempest said.

The five guys had been separated and brought into different interrogation rooms while the mustangs were being interviewed outside. The room Tempest was brought into a dark green room with bamboo floors. The only things in the room were a desk (which a very bored looking lemur sat at filling out paperwork) and a chair that Tempest was currently sitting on.

"Alright, full name?"

"Tempest Arrowhead. Can I go now?"

"No. Age?"

Tempest thought for a second. "Uhhhh… Skip."

The lemur rolled his eyes. "Alright, the reason for passing through?"

"We are on a mission to find the lost prince so he can reverse a curse on one of our members. Now can I go?"

The primate sighed. "Fine but don't go too far. Our queen wants to talk with all of you."

The coyote nodded and left the room and began to wander the halls of Lemur Castle as he looked for a way to sneak out.

Lemur castle was very beautiful in Tempest's opinion. The halls' walls were made of round black rocks that were layered on top of each other with moss growing in between the rocks, sealing them together. The floor was made of vines from honeysuckles and trumpet creepers and the little orange and white flowers bloomed along with the molding. Dinner plate sized green, yellow and orange orchids bloomed from the ceiling making it feel like he was walking down the rabbit hole into wonderland.

"Exit….. Exit… Damn it where's the exit?" he growled.

"Temp-est?" Jumpy Ghostface said as he came out of another room.

"Jumpy! Am I glad to see you!" Tempest said. "Listen we need to get out of here and find the girls. Where are the others?"

The rabbit shrugged and gestured to the many oak doors that lined the walls. Tempest groaned.

"We don't have time to search for all these doors the girls need us!" Tempest whined.

"I find others, you go," Jumpy said.

"Thanks, Big Ears," Tempest said and ran off.

* * *

Lin Chung sighed as he waited for Lemur Queen. For some reason, the lemur queen wanted to talk to him personally.

"Sorry for the wait." Lemur Queen said as she entered the room

The Lemur Queen was taller than her subjects, around three feet tall with dark gray, almost black fur and light gray fur on her ears and the rings on her tail. Her eyes were a bright florescent yellow that shinned with intelligence and kindness. Around her neck was a gold choker with tiny emeralds embedded into it and in her hand, she held a matching golden staff with a red rose on top. As she sat down across from him Lin Chung noticed a look on her face that seemed to say 'I know something you don't know'.

"Now before I start do you prefer Lin Chung or Dewei Dishi?" The Queen asked as she looked him straight in the eye. "Or would it just be easier to call you Panther Prince?"

Lin Chung felt his heart drop.

" _How on Earth did she figure out who I am so quickly?"_ he thought.

The queen smiled a bit. "You don't recognize me do you?" she asked softly.

The gray-haired teen shook his head. "Have we met before?"

The queen took the rose off the top of her staff and set it in front of him. Once Lin Chung got a better look at it he realized the rose was made of paper. As gently touched the petals the rose began to unfold itself to reveal a very beautifully painted portrait of a nine-year-old Lin Chung, Lemur Queen, and a nine-year-old girl all asleep under a large flowering apple tree. Tears began to form in his eyes as he looked at the girl in the picture. Because the painting was on red paper with black paint it was hard to make out many details other than her long hair.

"Huā….." Lin Chung said as he subconsciously slipped into his hybrid form. He then looked up at Lemur Queen, still crying. "Nozomu?"

The lemur nodded and threw her arms around him in a big hug.

"I have missed you my little shoot." She said with a smile. "Of course I'm not sure I can call you that now. You've gotten so big!"

Lin Chung laughed and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "Yeah, it's been awhile, I'm almost nineteen."

The queen whistled. "Its been ten years since I last saw you!" She laughed, but then suddenly her face got very serious. " But enough with the reminiscing. We need to get serious. Your friends who crossed the border into the Orangutan Kingdom are in danger." She said and pulled some scrolls out from under the desk.

As the first scroll unrolled it revealed a horrifying drawing of humans and animals alike that we mutilated and morphed. One woman had a chicken beak where her mouth and should have been and her arms were bent in odd angels with feathers sprouting all over her body. A horse had buffalo horns attached to head along with gorilla arms where it's front legs should have been. The second scroll showed torture techniques that looked like they were being used on children and young women. Lin Chung had to force himself not to throw up.

The third scroll had no pictures and consisted of notes.

" _Subject 33 has reacted violently to the Gorilla serum and had to be eliminated."_

" _A new test subject has been brought in under the human name of Lo, now subject 109, and injected with the Parrot Serum. No reaction yet._

 _-Note: The subject has fully changed but the mind has reverted into a primal state. The subject has been accepted by Twin Masters. "_

"What are these?" Lin Chung asked.

"Twin Master is having Orangutan turn innocent humans into savage versions of animals. We aren't sure why though, but if we had to guess he's probably building an army of some sort." Lemur Queen said. "We managed to capture one of the transformed humans and turn him back, however his mind was lost and he ended up killing himself."

Just the thought of what those poor people went through actually made Lin Chung throw up. The idea of Sonia and Autumn being forced into this made him so angry, angry enough to go and rip Orangutan King apart. He looked at Nozomu with a dead serious look.

"We need to save our friends now." He growled and turned back into his human form.

"I can lend you some of my solders but I have to warn you Orangutan King's men are extremely dangerous." The queen said. "There are also the booby traps and the labs you need to be wary of."

Lin Chung nodded and pulled his staff off his back. "Nothing is going to stop me from saving my friends. I'd go through Hell just to protect them, especially Autumn." He whispered the last part.

Once Lin Chung left the room the queen rubbed the sides of her head.

"That boy is so stubborn…. But he has grown up."

* * *

"LET ME OUT OF HER YOU OVERGROWN MONKEYS!" Autumn screamed as she pulled on her restraints.

Autumn and Sonia had been placed in two separate rooms while awaiting their fates but that had been over an hour ago. Autumn's arms and legs had once again been chained to the wall but this time the chains were long enough for her to move around the tiny room.

Suddenly the door opened revealing a young female orangutan holding a clipboard.

"So you're the red-head that our king has been talking about." She said. "Well aren't you the cutest thing?"

"Cute?" Autumn asked.

"Well maybe a bit on the flat side but still cuter than most humans I've seen." She giggled.

"What?" Autumn asked confused and looked down at herself. "I'm not flat."

"Now let's see, how tall are you? I'm going to say approximately 172.72 centimeters and 160 pounds."

Autumn felt very confused and looked down at herself. "How on earth can you tell that? And what's this about?"

The orangutan poked her with her pen. "I'm trained to study humans so we can figure out what animals they should be turned into," She said as she continued to poke her. "And I'm thinking you would make a good cheetah or maybe even a lion."

"Yeah, that's not going to happen," Autumn growled. "I'd rather be sold as a slave than be part of your sick experiment."

"Oh, I'm glad to hear that." A voice said.

The redhead looked up and glared. "Who the Hell are you?


	21. Culture Shock

Tempest ran threw the woods towards Orangutan castle with his heart pounding.

"Please be okay…. Please be okay…" Tempest muttered as he ran.

Soon the coyote spirit came to a large metal door in the middle of a large stone wall that seemed to go on for miles and, if he had to guess, was well over fifty feet tall.

"Shit…," Tempest muttered.

Suddenly a small slot opened in the door to reveal a pair of dark brown orangutan eyes.

"Coyote King? What are you doing here so early?" the orangutan guard asked. "And why are you on all fours?"

Tempest looked around and realized that the guard was talking to him. Tempest forced himself up onto his hind legs using his magic.

"I hurt my back and walking on all fours helps with the pain." He said rubbing his lower back, pretending it hurt.

"Oh well come on in." The guard said as he opened the door.

As Tempest entered the village that surrounded Orangutan Castle he nearly lost his lunch.

The village was full of half mutated humans that were being used as slaves. A young woman, who's lower body had been replaced with that of a chicken's, was being beaten for what looked like drinking some water. An old man who had no arms and had the body of a snake was trying to put some sheets on a clothesline with his mouth.

"So I guess you're here for those two girls from Big Green right?" the guard asked.

Tempest nodded, shocked by the horrible experiments to say anything.

"Well you've might have gotten here a bit too late for the redhead," He said as they walked. "We already got an offer on her."

Tempest stopped walking and clenched his fists. "What do you mean 'got an offer on her'?"

The guard looked at him. "A rich human heard we got two new females in and wants to add them to his 'family'. He's looking over the redhead right now."

* * *

"Who the Hell are you?" Autumn growled as the collar shocked her.

The young man in the doorway stepped up to Autumn and slapped her across the face.

"A lady should never curse, especially in front of a man." He growled. "But to answer your question I am Wu Fan."

Wu Fan didn't look to be much older than Autumn, nineteen or twenty if she had to guess. He had pale ivory skin, much like Mystique Sonia's. He had short choppy hair that was spiked up in the front to keep it out of his face. His eyes were a misty green color that looked at her like she was the newest sports car on the lot, and his smirking pink lips reminded her of her friend whenever he got a good hand in Yu-Gi-Oh. Fan's clothing consisted of a long green loose fitting tunic that went just below his knees with long sleeves with white cuffs and white sashes and sandals.

Wu Fan looked at the female orangutan. "I want her chains retracted."

Suddenly the chains retracted into the wall and once again Autumn was pinned to the wall.

"That's better." He said. "Now what is your name?"

"Drop dead," Autumn growled.

Her collar shocked her again, but this time it hurt twice as much, making her almost blackout. In her dazed state Autumn didn't notice the female orangutan had left and closed the door, locking them in the room.

"Now, Moon Soldier, let us see if you're as tough as they say."

* * *

Tempest had managed to sneak away from the guard and began searching the rooms for Autumn and Mystique Sonia. So far all he had found were more human/animal hybrids, some supply closets, five different make-out sessions and a pair of twin orangutans holding hands and wearing blue dresses.

"Yeesh… Shinning much?" Tempest muttered as he closed that door.

The next-door he opened revealed an unconscious Mystique Sonia and a knotted up Yaksha. Sonia's dress was slightly torn but other that she looked okay.

"Sonia?" he said as he walked over to the young woman.

As he got closer he noticed a mark on her side that was visible due to the tare. The mark was in the shape of a carnation flower, with each of the petals outlined in black, but it looked like some of the petals were missing.

"Hey wake up," He said as he shook her. "Mystique Sonia wake up, we need to find Autumn and get out of here."

Sonia slowly opened her eyes and looked up that the k9. "T-Tempest?"

"Yeah it's me, let's get you out of here." He said as he gently picked her up

Suddenly Sonia began to scream as her collar began to shock her. In an act of quick thinking, Tempest bit down on the collar and ripped it off her neck, and threw it across the room. Sonia took deep breaths and gave Tempest a grateful look.

"T-Thanks." She coughed.

As she rubbed her revealing burns from the electricity caused by the chaotic energy. Tempest gently nuzzled Sonia's neck and exhaled on her wounds, causing them to heal almost instantly. Sonia touched her neck in amazement.

"How did you do that?" She asked.

Tempest smiled a bit. "I'm a spirit, I can do a lot of things."

* * *

Autumn curled up into herself as she cried softly. Wu Fan had undone her restraints and proceeded to kick and beat her, demanding that she call him master. With a swift kick to her side, Autumn felt another one of her ribs break.

"SAY IT!" He screamed. "Don't you know a woman is supposed to submit to a man, especially her future husband."

Autumn looked up and glared through her tears. "I would never marry someone like you."

"What? You mean handsome and rich?" he said in a narcissistic tone.

"Condescending and sexist," Autumn said with a deadpan tone. "And who said I was going to marry you? First off I'm only eighteen! And second, I'm taken!"

Wu Fan looked genuinely shocked when she said she was eighteen as if that made her ancient or something.

"I-If you're eighteen then how come you're not married with kids already?" He asked with his hand over his chest.

Now it was Autumn's turn to be confused. "Huh? Wait do you mean girls get married when they're younger than me?"

Wu Fan nodded. "The typical age for a woman to marry is fifteen."

Autumn paled greatly. "I think I'm going to be sick….."

Wu Fan picked her up and slung her across his shoulder. "I'm just going to have to make an honest woman out of you then."

"The Hell you are!" Tempest yelled as they opened the door.

The dark brown coyote tackled the young man, making him drop Autumn. While Wu Fan was dazed Tempest bit Autumn's collar off and handed her bag. Autumn pulled out the Book of the Moon and opened it to a random page.

"Tcefrep Eube!" She said and pointed her hand at him.

A large yellow cube appeared around Wu Fan, trapping him.

"That should hold him for a few hours. Let's get out of here." Autumn said.

The group ran towards the exit, avoiding orangutan guards and scientists as they ran. The halls of Orangutan Castle were a bright unnatural white while the floors were made of white tiles. It reminded Autumn of pictures of hospitals she had seen in Africa.

As they ran Autumn felt something fly past them. Autumn looked back and saw some darts in the wall.

"Crap." She said.

Once they made it to the exit they found themselves surrounded by Orangutan King and his guards. The three members of Big Green took fighting stances, ready to fight if needed, but Autumn was having a hard time staying up due to her broken ribs. Black spots began to dance across her vision and her legs were beginning to shake.

"Surrender, or else," Fēngkuáng said.

"I'll take 'or else'." Autumn shakily said.

"Autumn don't you're to wounded! If you do another spell you might hurt yourself, or worse!" Mystique Sonia said.

Autumn ignored her. _"Noom thgil maeb hsalf!"_

A bright yellow light shot her moon markings, blinding the orangutans.

"Run!" Autumn yelled.

They bolted out the door and into the city. Just as they made it to the wall a part of the wall exploded revealing the guys and a large number of lemur soldiers.

"You three okay?" Mr. No-Hands asked.

"A bit beat up but we're okay," Tempest said.

"Speak for your self," Sonia said as she held Autumn up. "Autumn's got a few broken ribs and she used the last of her energy to help us escape."

Autumn mumbled something along the lines of 'I'm fine' and tried to stand on her own, only to start falling.

"Well, at least she didn't pass out this time." Mighty Ray said.

"STOP THEM!" Fēngkuáng yelled.

Over twenty guards ran towards them with spears and blow darts. The lemurs threw smoke bombs that created a large cloud of black smoke, and by the time the smoke cleared the lemurs and First Squad had disappeared.

* * *

That night First Squad found themselves in the throne room of Lemur Castle with Lemur Queen.

The throne room was relatively small compared to the throne rooms of the other animals' throne rooms. The was were made of red terracotta bricks, sealed together with green moss, just like most of the castle. The floors were covered in thick dark green grass with a white stone walkway that lead to the beautifully carved wooden throne of the queen. The throne was carved into a huge oak tree, whose branches formed the roof of the entire castle, with carvings of lemurs worshiping the sun and moon on the armrests.

"Thank you again for your help Lemur Queen." Mr. No-Hand said with a grateful bow.

The rest of the squad followed his lead and bowed to the queen, even Autumn, who had been cleared to walk around on her own after having her chest bandaged up by the highly trained lemur nurses.

"My soldiers are always willing to save those who fall into Orangutan King's clutches. I'm just happy Autumn and Mystique Sonia weren't turned into beasts or worse." The queen said.

Autumn shivered just thinking about Wu Fan. Just the thought of him touching her made her skin crawl. Lin Chung noticed his girlfriend's discomfort and pulled her close, secretly using a bit of his Harmonic Energy to calm her down.

"But I insist you all spend the night, the orangutans are probably still looking for you, even as we speak." The queen said. "I will have a servant show you to your rooms, and I also suggest you take advantage of our hot springs."

* * *

"So…What exactly do you wear to a hot spring?" Autumn asked Sonia once they arrived at their rooms.

Autumn and Sonia's room was roughly the same size as their rooms back at Big Green with dark brown mahogany walls, green moss carpeting and a glass ceiling that made them feel like they were sleeping under the stars. The beds were hammocks filled with lots of fluffy pillows and blankets.

"Here," Sonia said as she tossed Autumn a crop top, a swimsuit bottom, and towel.

Autumn held the pieces of fabric up. "Where's the rest of it?"

"Trust me that's all you'll need," Sonia said.

The redhead turned bright red. "What if someone sees me?!"

"Hot springs are usually divided into guy's and girl's sides, so no one will see us." The ravened haired girl said. "Although I'm sure Lin Chung wouldn't mind."

Autumn blushed an even darker red and threw a pillow at her face. "SHUT UP!"

Sonia laughed and the two made their way to the hot springs, leaving Yaksha behind to sleep. As they walked Sonia noticed Autumn trailing behind a bit. The redhead looked uncomfortable and nervous.

"You okay?" Sonia asked as they reached the changing rooms.

Autumn held her clothes close and looked down. "You can't laugh, okay?"

Sonia raised an eyebrow. "Laugh at what?"

Autumn didn't say anything else.

"Autumn, you coming in or not?" Sonia asked and she stood outside the changing room.

The redhead had been hiding in her changing room for the past ten minutes and refused to come out.

"I'm good! You go in without me!" Autumn said.

"No way, you need this as much as I do."

Sonia reached in and tried to pull her friend out but Autumn wouldn't budge.

"Okay, that's it! _**KERPLA**_!"

Autumn shirked as Sonia pulled her out with tongue. When she finally got Autumn out she was shocked at what she saw.

"You're embarrassed because you have tattoos?" Sonia said as she covered her mouth to hide her smile.

Autumn's right side was tattooed with long vines of Cherokee roses that went up to her shoulder blade. On the opposite shoulder blade was a paw print of some large animal.

"They're pretty," Sonia said.

"That's not why I'm embarrassed…. I'm just not very comfortable with my body okay?" Autumn said as she wrapped her towel around herself.

"Why?" Sonia asked. "You're one of the prettiest girls at Big Green."

Autumn tugged her towel tighter. "I don't want to talk about it, okay?"

Sonia didn't push the matter further.

"Ahhhhh…" Autumn said as she lowered herself into the hot steaming water.

"This is heaven." Sonia moaned.

The two girls sat in silence, enjoying the sounds of the steaming water.

The main area of the hot spring felt like a little oasis in the middle of the jungle. The ground was covered with smooth black stones with grass and flowers growing between them. The spring itself was roughly four feet deep, twenty feet wide and divided into two parts by a ten-foot-tall brick wall.

Autumn sighed as she felt her muscles relax. Her ribs no longer her and she felt completely at peace.

"Hey, Lin Chung I found what's making that light!" Mighty Ray said.

The girls looked up and saw Mighty Ray poking his head over the wall.

"MIGHTY RAY!" They screamed.

"Ladies." He smirked.

Autumn grabbed the closest thing to her (which happened to be her shoe) and chucked it at the short male while Sonia blew him off the wall with her tongue. They heard a loud splash and the sound of Lin Chung, Tempest and Jumpy laughing at their teammate's expense.

"What light was he talking about?" Autumn asked.

Sonia looked at Autumn and noticed the moon's on Autumn's chest and forehead were glowing a bright yellow color.

"I think it's you." She said.

The redhead looked down at the moon on her chest.

"Well, this is new."

* * *

Wu Fan grumbled and cursed as he walked home. He had paid for that girl and she ran off! How dare she!

"Somebody needs to teach that girl a lesson." He growled.

"My thoughts exactly." A voice said from the trees.

Lady Green dropped from the branches and landed in front of him.

"Who are you?" Wu Fan asked.

"An ally," Lady Green said. "I will help you if you do something for me."

"And what would that be?" He asked.

The evil red-head leaned in and whispered in his ear. Wu Fan's eyes widen and he began to smirk.

"It's a deal."

 **Hey everyone I just wanted to leave an Author's Note here. Thanks to everyone who has been reading this and helping it grow. I'm going to warn you that the story is going to get a bit dark for a while. If you want to see some art for the story please check out my Instagram at knights_journey_19.**


	22. Body Image

_Autumn walked along a long hallway lined with gray lockers and grayish-green tiles._

" _ **Fatty, fatty, fatty, fatty…"**_ _Voices sang in her ears._

 _Autumn covered her ears and ran down the hall but it didn't stop the voices. As she ran, she saw figures pointing at her and whispering but she could still hear them._

" _ **Man, with all that weight you'd think some of it would go to her chest."**_

" _ **Watch out, it's a charging hippo."**_

 _In the middle of the hall stood Lin Chung with his arms around another girl, who also had red hair, but she had bigger breasts and hips than her but she couldn't make out her face._

" _Lin?" Autumn said._

 _The gray-haired teen looked at her and sneered. "I don't date fat pigs."_

 _Autumn felt tears rolled down her cheeks as the image of the two disappeared. Suddenly she found herself surrounded by different versions of herself. Some were skinny and flat; some had much bigger breasts and butts others were overweight. Autumn gripped to her head as they began to surround and yell at her._

" _Fat bitch! He doesn't love you. He'll just leave you just like Dylan!" They shouted._

 _Autumn started bawling when another version of her stepped forward. She had a perfect hourglass figure, her hair styled perfectly with beautiful long wavy red locks and even her skin was perfect, not a zit or freckle to be seen. She was everything Autumn wasn't when it came to looks._

" _He's going to leave you because you're not_ _ **perfect.**_ _" She whispered in her ear._

* * *

Autumn woke up with a start as she heard someone knock on her door. Looking outside she noticed that the sun wasn't even up.

"Autumn it's time for morning training." Lin Chung said.

Autumn groaned quietly. "I'll be out soon…"

"Alright, meet me in the courtyard when you're ready." He said before walking away.

Autumn got up and picked her gi up off the floor when she noticed a bloodstain on the side. She groaned and threw it in her hammock and pulled out another gi from her backpack and went to change in the adjacent bathroom.

As she changed, she glanced in the mirror and grimaced at her reflection. She looked… Puffy. Her stomach looked a little round and her hips, butt, and thighs looked a bit softer and wider, giving her a pear shape.

" _You're not perfect…."_ A voice said in her head.

She threw her clothes on and ran down to the courtyard, slamming the door behind her. If she had stayed a bit longer, she would have noticed her refection staid after she left and was smirking.

* * *

Lin Chung smiled as he finished his latest painting: A portrait of Autumn with a crown of roses in her hair. She had a smile on her face that made the whole portrait radiate happiness and peace.

"I hope she likes it." He said to himself as he added some dark brown to her hair.

"I think you should darken her hair a bit," Tempest said as he walked over.

"Tempest, what are you doing up so early?"

"I never went to bed, spirits don't need sleep," Tempest explained. "But I wanted to ask you something."

"Sure, go ahead."

Tempest looked up at Lin Chung with a very serious look on his face that made the coyote look much older, ancient even. The young man felt a bit nervous, wondering how serious the question if Tempest was looking at him like that.

"You love Autumn right?"

"Yes."

"You will do anything for her right?"

"Yes? Where's this going?"

Tempest sighed. "Look, I don't like or trust you. Frankly, I don't like any guy that shows romantic interest in her because all they do is break her heart. But she trusts you… So that's something. The reason I'm asking this is that I want what's best for her. But so help me, if you hurt her I will tear you limb from limb." He growled. "If I see her crying because of you I will personally make sure you will never be able to reproduce, got it?"

Lin Chung was a bit taken back by Tempest's treat. He knew that the spirit was protective of Autumn, but this was a bit extreme.

"Look I would never hurt her so you don't need to worry." He assured.

"Yeah, that's what they all say," Tempest muttered before walking away.

* * *

"Hey! Sorry for the wait!" Autumn said as she ran into the courtyard.

The courtyard was roughly the size of a basketball court with large hedges surrounding it. The ground was covered by stones, similar to the hot spring, with a large fountain in the middle that squirted crystal clear water.

Lin Chung looked over at her and smiled.

"You ready?" He asked.

Autumn took her whip off her belt and held it in her hand. "Let's do this."

Lin took her to the farthest side of the yard where a bunch of bottles sat on a stone bench. Each one had a face painted on it, one looked like a very crude High Roller, two looked like the zebra brothers, another looked Bear Stomp and then there was one that Autumn guessed was supposed to be Coyote King but it looked more like Tempest.

"I want you to shatter these bottles with your whip, think you can handle it?" He asked.

Autumn nodded confidently and swung her whip at the High Roller Bottle, only for it to miss completely and hit the hedge instead.

"It's okay, try again." He said.

Autumn tried again and missed again, and again, and again….

"DAMN IT!" Autumn yelled and threw the whip on the ground.

"It's okay, keep trying," Lin Chung said patiently as he picked up the whip and handed it to her.

Autumn sighed. "Can we move on please?"

"No," He said and stood behind her. "Let's try this."

Lin Chung gripped her hand and gently pulled her arm back. "Just like this. You're still a beginner so you don't have to be perfect."

" _You're not perfect… I'm going to leave you….."_ A voice said in Autumn's head imitating Lin Chung's voice.

Autumn grit her teeth and swung the whip back a bit too hard and hit Lin Chung square in the nose. When she thrust it forward, she managed to shatter the zebra bottles and the High roller bottle.

"Ow… Okay, that was good, but next time don't swing it back so far." Lin Chung said as he checked his nose for blood.

"Never say that word again!" Autumn yelled as tears rolled down her face.

Lin Chung stepped back in shock. "What word?"

"Perfect! Never say that word again!"

Lin Chung nodded and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, using a bit of his energy to calm her down but there was resistance, like some sort of external force was trying to keep the harmonic energy way from her. With a bit of a push, he managed to get past it and calm Autumn down.

"It's okay, I got you. I promise I won't say that word again, okay?" He said as he pulled her closer.

* * *

"You said this would take immediate effect!" Lady Green yelled at an older woman.

Lady Green and Wu Fan had traveled to Shīqùle Hěnjiǔ and found a witch named Heikin who was willing to help them for a price.

Heikin resembled the form that the Evil Queen took in Snow White, long crooked nose, long thin white hair, a hunched back and long wrinkly hands with overgrown yellow fingernails. The one thing that set her apart from the Evil Queen was the fact that Heikin was blind. Both her eyes were completely white, but somehow, she could see Lady Green and Wu Fan's glares.

"I know what I said and the spell is taking effect, it's just a very slow spell," She said, her voice sounding like she had been eating sandpaper for the past twenty years. "It will go much faster if you can get Lin Chung away from her. If you can get him away from her for at least an hour the spell will speed up, and I sure you that Lin Chung will be yours."

"And Autumn mine? I don't give a crap about what she looks like as long as she can perform her womanly duties." Wu Fan asked.

"All in good time."

The three looked into a large bowl of oil and saw an image Autumn and Lin Chung sparring. Lady Green growled and went over and grabbed her bag.

"I'll just have to speed things up." She said before heading out the door.

"Hey wait for me!" Wu Fan said.

Once the two left Heikin switched the image to one of a sleeping Mystique Sonia.

"Once we deal with your friend, I'm coming after you, Sonia."

* * *

"Okay that's enough for today," Lin Chung said as he wiped some sweat off his brow.

Autumn nodded and sat down on the edge of the fountain and took some deep breaths. It was nearly sun up and they needed to get on the road soon, but Autumn's stomach had other plans as it let out a loud growl.

" _Someone's hungry,"_ Lin Chung thought as he watched Autumn blush in embarrassment.

Lin Chung couldn't help but smile at Autumn. The young woman had changed and matured since she had first arrived at Big Green, both physically and mentally. When Autumn had first arrived, she was physically weaker than most of the fighters he had seen, but what she had lacked in bronze she made up in brains, using her wit to get her out of sticky situations. But since she had received the moon's blessing her magical skills began to rival that of his Harmonic abilities. And while she was still new to her whip, she was making progress.

But something that caught his attention was that Autumn looked different and he kind of liked it. Autumn had always been beautiful, but something had changed but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Hey, Lin?" Autumn said. "Can I ask you a question?

"Sure," He said and sat beside her.

"Do you like the way I look?" She mumbled.

"What?" Lin Chung asked, not sure if he heard her correctly. He also worried that she had caught him staring at her.

"I said 'do you like the way I look'?"

"I'm not sure what you're asking," He answered.

" _What's this about?"_ He thought.

"Never mind." She said and walked off.

* * *

As First Squad got back on the road Autumn checked her reflection one last time, making sure what she saw in the mirror was real, and not just her mind playing tricks on her, but this time she decided to ask the most brutally honest person on the squad.

"Hey, Mighty Ray? Can I ask you a question?" She asked.

The short male was making a list of things that they were going to need to get in Shīqùle Hěnjiǔ. He looked up at the redhead.

"Sure, what's up?" he asked.

"Do you think I've put on weight?" Autumn asked.

"Uhhh….." Mighty Ray said as he looked the red-headed woman up and down.

Mighty Ray wasn't considered to be one of the most observant members of First Squad, but after living with Mystique Sonia for so long (the most emotional person he knew) he had learned to pick up subtle changes in the woman of Big Green. Whether it be Sonia cutting her hair a bit shorter, Rose Finch getting a new hat, or Alpha Girl's club getting cleaned, he always made sure to note these things, just in case they asked later. He had noticed Autumn's appearance had changed recently but he had assumed she was finally gaining back the weight she had lost from sleeping for two weeks after she had defeated Tiger Lilly and from the torture that High Roller and Coyote King had inflicted on her on Coconut Crab Island (seriously, Autumn had been getting to the point where Apetrully wanted to keep Autumn from going on missions because she looked like she would pass out at any second.).

"I mean you have, but to be completely honest you don't look bad." Mighty Ray said.

Autumn was surprised. "You think so?"

Mighty Ray nodded, making Autumn feel a bit better about herself.

* * *

As the group headed down the path towards Shīqùle Hěnjiǔ Autumn shifted uncomfortably in her clothes. Even though she had been told she didn't look bad she still had that little voice in her head telling her she looked like a hippo.

 _"Fatty... You're not perfect"_ It whispered.

" _Shut up."_ She said to it in her mind.

" _He'll leave you."_

" _I said shut up!"_

" _You're not perfect."_

" _You've said that repetitive ain't ya?"_

" _Pig King is skinnier than you."_

Autumn squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears and tried to block out the voice, unfortunately, she didn't hear her friends yelling for her to duck. Next thing she was in the air with something slicing through her shirt.

"Autumn!" They yelled.

The redhead looked up and saw a harpy eagle solder flying away with her! The harpy eagle had dark gray feathers with blue feathers on its head with golden yellow eyes. Its legs were black with yellow talons

"Geeze, you stand to lose a few." It said.

Autumn growled and grabbed the bird's legs. "SHUT UP!"

The redhead ripped herself from the eagle talons and began to fall back down to the earth.

"Yaksha trampoline!" Sonia yelled.

Autumn landed on Yaksha after bouncing a few times.

"You okay?" Lin Chung asked.

Autumn looked at her shoulders and saw some cuts on her shoulder but nothing serious.

"I'm okay." She said.

"We've got company!" Mr. No-Hands yelled.

A convocation of twenty to fifty harpy eagles flew towards them lead by Harpy Eagle Queen. The queen, while smaller than her soldiers (four foot four to their five foot ten), was much faster than them. The queen had white and gold feathers that covered her chest and wings. Her beak, legs, and talons were the same shade of yellowish gold.

"There's too many! We need to run!" Autumn said.

"There's no way my soldiers can outrun them." Mustang King said.

"Maybe I can be of some assistance?" A voice said from the trees.

Lady Green jumped down from a nearby tree with her sword/spears in hand. The red-headed member of Big Green's navy wasn't wearing her usual green dress with the fish scale pattern, instead, she wore a knee-length green and blue kimono with slits cut into the sides to show off her leg. The top part of the kimono was a bit low cut, meant the show off some cleavage, tight around her thin waist, and even the sleeves were drawing attention to her arms. The redhead even had cut her hair into a textured bob, showing off her sharp facial features.

The members of the first squad all had mixed reactions to Lady Green.

Sonia got the feeling she was trying to get someone's attention, and by someone, she meant Lin Chung. All of Big Green knew the two had feelings for each other, that why it was such a shock to many members of Big Green when Lin Chung and Autumn got together, so it was only a matter of time before Lady Green pulled a stunt like this. What worried Sonia the most was that she was beginning to think that Autumn had some sort of body image issue, judging on how she had acted last night. Out of instinct, she stepped closer the Autumn in a sisterly protective way.

Mighty Ray felt both infatuated and disturbed at the same time. It was no secret that he had a crush on Lady Green, he openly flirted with her (even though she rejected him, every single time) but the way she was dressed wasn't like her. Sure, the outfit made her looked incredibly hot, no doubt, but it felt wrong. The Lady Green he knew and had a crush on was reserved and didn't need fancy clothes to look pretty, her natural beauty was enough.

Jumpy and Mr. No-Hands both felt relieved for the young woman's sudden arrival, but Lin Chung was the one who was having the strangest internal reaction of all.

On the outside, Lin Chung looked relieved for the sudden arrival of their comrade and tried to maintain his composure, but the inside he felt flustered as his heart began to pound in his chest and his face heated up with a bright red blush. He didn't realize that Lady Green was so… Pretty. He felt almost hypnotized by the way she walked up to them. He had never felt this way before, not even around Autumn. When she walked closer to him he could smell her perfume; a mixture of vanilla, cinnamon, lavender, and rose that made his mind feel hazy.

Autumn frowned at Lin Chung's reaction and held herself, but her moment of self-consciousness was cut short when she noticed Harpy Eagle Queen diving straight for them!

"Look out!" Autumn yelled and pulled her whip and swung it at the queen. She missed but it was enough to startle the eagle monarch and make her fly into a tree. While the harpy eagles went to check on their queen Mighty Ray shot the ground with his eyes and created a large dust cloud, allowing first squad and Lady Green to make their escape. Lady Green jumped on Mustang King with Lin Chung.

"That dust could won't keep them distracted for long, we need to find somewhere to hide!" Lady Green said.

Sonia looked up ahead and saw a fork in the road. The path to the left had was lined with flowering cherry blossom trees, making the path itself completely covered in pink petals. The path to the right was simpler, lined with pine trees and rocks and didn't look like something out of Ouran High School Host Club.

"Go left! I know somewhere we'll be safe!" The black-haired beauty said.

The group turned left and ran until they could no longer hear the curses of the harpy eagles. The mustangs slowed down to a trot as they continued down the path.

"We're almost there, just a little further," Sonia said.

"Where are we going?" Mr. No-Hands asked.

"You'll see," Sonia said.

Once they reached the end of the path, they came to a large golden gate that had a large white stone wall on either side of it. The gate itself had small golden and ivory birds molded into the bars that were shaped like trees.

The group dismounted when a voice yelled at them from above.

"Who goes there?"

A large white dove and a white and brown pigeon flew down and landed in front of them and pointed their golden spears at them. Both of the birds wore gold and red armor, similar to Spartan armor: a gold chest plate and helmet with red plumage, straps, and kilts. Engraved on the chest plate was what looked like a heart with wings.

"Ài? Amor?" Sonia asked. "It's me!"

The two guards' expression softened as lowered their spears.

"Little Sis?" The dove asked.

"Little sis?!" The others said in surprise."

"Haha!" The pigeon said and picked up Sonia in a tight hug and swung her around. "You've gotten so big, little sister! You even cut your hair!"

"Wait, Sonia, these are your brothers?" Mighty Ray asked.

"This explains Spirit Animal," Jumpy said to Lin Chung.

The leader of the First Squad nodded.

The two birds lead them inside as they asked drilled Sonia about her life at Big Green. As they walked Autumn noticed Lady Green trying to flirt with Lin Chung, the keyword 'trying'. Mighty Ray pulled Lin Chung away to look at some of the marble statues that lined the path. Autumn clenched her fist, wanting to very much to bash her face into one of the statues, but restrained herself for the time being and focus on the village.

The village was very beautiful, something out of a Greek myth. All the homes and businesses were made pure white marble, but the way they were built resembled more of the Chinese style buildings she had seen around Hidden Kingdom. Statues of various animals and humans lined the path, each with their gold plaque describing who they were such as _"Sabrina the White: First Empress to rule without a husband', 'Sparks the Cunning: The First Zebra Queen'_ and _'Yugi the Playful: The Dog Queen of Games'._

But one drew Autumn's attention: A statue of a woman in white marble in long rob meditating with lotus on her necklace and a smile on her face and a man-made of black marble in samurai armor with a spear and shield standing behind her with a very solemn look on his face. The plaque read ' _Let us remember those who came before us, both light and dark'_ in Chinese. Before Autumn could ask who, these people were Sonia ran up to a large dove and pigeon who were walking towards them.

The dove was all white, except for his golden tail feathers and black legs and beak. The pigeon was a mix of silver, blue and gray all over with a white beak and legs. Both of them wore white togas and laurel leaves on their heads.

"Dad! Papa!" She yelled embracing the two in a hug.

"Dad? Papa?" Mighty Ray asked. "Wait they're your-"

"Parents. Meet my father Eros the Dove King and Agape the Pigeon King."

* * *

 **Hey everyone, sorry for the wait, I'm getting ready for the holidays and a new job soon. I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Season's Greetings, A A Happy Hanuka, and many more. I plan on writting a retelling of a Disney movie with Hero 108 characters and Autumn and Lin Chung being the main couple and need your help to decide:**

 **Aladin**

 **Tangled**

 **Cinderella**

 **Frozen**

 **Hercules**

 **The Princess and the Frog**

 **The Little Mermaid**

 **Let me know what you think I should do in the comments.**


	23. Ice cold

"So, wait you have two dads?" Mighty Ray asked.

"Is that a problem banana brain?" Sonia said with a glare.

Dove king put his wing on her shoulder. "Sonia, if he had a problem with us it's fine."

"He can just sleep outside with the rats." Pigeon king added with a mischievous smirk.

"I don't have a problem with it!" Mighty Ray said quickly. "It just took me by surprise! You never talk about your family so I assumed you had a mom and dad."

Mr. No-Hands hit him upside the head with his ponytail. "Mighty Ray what have I told you about assuming?"

"It makes an ass out of you and me." He muttered rubbing his head.

The others laughed except for Autumn. The redhead had kind of a blank look on her face, which the two kings noticed.

"Are you okay?" Eros asked her.

Autumn nodded. "Yeah, I'm just surprised same-sex marriage is a thing here. Everything here seems so… Traditional."

"You don't have a problem with it do you?" Sonia asked.

She laughed. "Of course not! My brother Xander is gay and had been married to his husband for three years."

Lin Chung looked surprised. Autumn had never told him that one of her brothers was gay, let alone married. It made him wonder what other things she hadn't told him.

"Well how about we take you to the palace? We can introduce you to Sonia's other brothers." Agape said.

"Thank you but we can't, we need Shīqùle Hěnjiǔ." Lin Chung said.

"Oh, what for?" Eros asked. "Are you going to Dusk Festival?"

"No, we're heading to the Snow Leopard and Ram Kingdoms to see if they know anything about the missing prince so we can reverse a curse." He explained.

Eros and Agape looked surprised. "You mean the prince is alive?"

Autumn nodded. "He's been sending me visions for a while now."

Eros rubbed his chin. "If Duusuu and Stoic know something I wonder why they never brought it up."

Sonia looked at her father. "Wait, you know them personally?! How come you never motioned it in your letters?!"

"You never asked sweetie," Eros said. "Well, you can ask them tomorrow if you want."

The group looked at him in surprise. "Why tomorrow?" Lady Green asked.

"Because they're coming for the Dusky Festival, as they have done for the past few years."

The two kings lead them to Pigeon Dove Castle where they were met by Sonia's seven other brothers: Pearl (a white dove with turquoise tail feathers, legs, and beak)

Sapphire (a blue pigeon with white legs and a gray beak),

Jasper (a white pigeon with orange wings and tail feathers with yellow legs and beak),

Jade (a yellow and brown pigeon with black legs and beak)

Topaz (a dove who looked exactly like Eros)

Quartz (a black and gray pigeon with black legs and beak)

and Agate (a pure white dove, including the legs and beak)

Sonia's brothers surrounded her in a big hug and began asking her a million questions, leaving the others to watch in amusement. Sonia looked over at Autumn who smirked, knowing what it was like to be smothered by older brothers. Agate broke from the hug and looked at Autumn.

"You must be Autumn Moon," He said.

Sonia's brothers all turned their heads and before Autumn knew it she was being smothered in a big feathery hug and being bombarded with questions.

"Sonia has told us so much about you!"

"Is it true you can use moon magic?"

"Your hair is so pretty! Is it natural?"

"Do some magic please?"

During all the chaos Lin Chung pulled Lady Green aside.

"Okay what are you doing here?" he asked bluntly.

"I heard that the lamprey army was heading upriver so I decided to investigate, but is that what you want to talk about?" she asked as she stepped a bit closer to him.

Lin Chung felt his face heat up as she got closer, his mind feeling hazy again as the smell of her perfume filled his nose. He tried to step away but his legs felt like lead. Lady Green leaned in so her lips were mere millimeters from his, making his heart beat faster. He pushed her away and glared.

"Yes, that is what I want to talk about," He said sternly, but his blush betrayed him.

Lady Green giggled in a flirty. "You're sure about that? Your blush says otherwise."

That statement just made him blush even more.

"Stop that!" He said. "Look, I know we both had feelings for each other but that's over now. I love Autumn, I'm sorry."

Lady Green growled to herself as he ran back to the others. She felt for sure she had him under her spell, only if a little bit. Reaching into her bag the evil redhead pulled out two bottles, one pink and the other a dark red color.

"Sooner or later my dear Lin Chung you'll see that you and I were meant to be."

* * *

As they walked through the palace Sonia noted that Autumn looked uncomfortable as she walked behind the group, tugging at her shirt as she walked. The others were too busy listening to Eros about the construction of the palace to pay any attention.

"You okay there Red?" Jasper asked, also noticing that Autumn looked uncomfortable.

Autumn sighed and stopped tugging at her shirt. "I swear this gi fit before we left."

Sonia looked at her friend, noting something was off. Usually, her gi's we very loose, but this one seemed to be a bit more form-fitting than the others.

"Hmm…. Maybe there's something I can do," he said as he examined her outfit. "Father Sonia and I are going to show Autumn to the sewing room."

"Okay, meet us in the garden for lunch when you are done," Eros said.

"Okay." The siblings said as they took Autumn down the hall.

The castle felt like something out of a fairy tale. The floor and walls were made of sleek white marble with gold and ivory making up the molding. The high arched ceilings allowed doves and pigeons to fly in and out of large passageways above them. Through arched windows, Autumn could see all of the Dove and Pigeon kingdom as well as Shīqùle Hěnjiǔ. Along the walls were paintings of Sonia, her brothers and her dads.

"Alright, it's just up here," Sonia said.

Autumn looked up and saw an entryway about twenty feet in the air. Jasper flew up while Autumn and Sonia used Yaksha to get up there. Once up Sonia and Autumn were up he leads them into a large room that was covered head to toe in different rolls of fabric from denim to chiffon. Manikins with either full outfits on or just pieces of cloth pinned to them.

"Alright first things first, I'm going need you to take off your clothes so I can take some measurements. " Jasper said as he grabbed a measuring tape.

Autumn gripped her shirt. "I'm not comfortable with that."

Sonia frowned and put her hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't worry we won't judge."

Autumn sighed. "Fine…."

Jasper leads her behind a thick velvet curtain to change. Autumn set her bag down and began started taking off her shirt. Tempest decided to pop his head out right at that moment.

"Woah, Autumn, I say this because I love you: you've put on weight." The coyote said.

"Tempest!" Autumn screamed. "Get out!"

The redhead sent a mixture of yellow, red and blue energy at him, sending the coyote flying out from behind the curtain. Tempest landed in a pile of fabric scraps with Jasper and Sonia looking at him.

"AND STAY OUT!" Autumn yelled.

The spirit got up and shook the fabric off of himself. "Geez, I'll never understand why women are so sensitive about their weight."

"Well first off, that was rude, and second you noticed too?" Sonia asked in a hushed tone.

Tempest nodded. "Kind of hard not to. This can't be normal."

"Hardly anything is normal in the Hidden Kingdom," Sonia muttered.

"I hate to ask, but –

"No, she's not pregnant," Tempest said. "But something is off."

"Okay, I'm ready," Autumn said.

Jasper and Sonia went behind the curtain where Autumn stood in her bra and a pair of shorts. Her friend had defiantly put on weight since last night.

Autumn wasn't exactly petite when she had arrived at Big Green, (not to say she was fat, just a bit on the muscular side) but now Autumn was boarder lining on chubby. The red head's hips, thighs, and butt were bigger and softer than last night along with her stomach, which wasn't as bad, just a little round and pudgy. The upper part of her body was more or less the same, but her face did look a bit fuller. With all that said though, she didn't look bad Autumn pulled off the look. At least that's what Sonia thought, and apparently, Jasper did too.

"You look adorable!" the dove said.

The redhead covered her face to hide a bright red blush.

"I look like if Panda King and Samo had a baby." She mumbled.

"No, you don't Autumn," Sonia said as she and Yaksha pushed her towards the mirror.

"Easy for you to say, Sonia, you're perfect," Autumn muttered.

"Hey, even someone as pretty as I have their flaws," The black-haired girl said as Jasper began taking measurements. "You want to tell me why you're so self-conscious about your body?"

Autumn sighed; she didn't want to but telling someone why she felt like this would take the weight off her shoulders.

"Alright fine:

 _When I was in middle school I…. bloomed early for lack of a better term. The problem was that the summer before eighth grade I put on some weight while visiting my great aunt in Ireland so my new 'curves' were even more noticeable. Girls in my class started teasing me and calling me names like 'Miss Piggy' or 'Fatty Patty'. Even guys wouldn't leave me alone and they would harass me by either poking me in the stomach or stealing my lunch. But there was this one girl Madison who made it her mission to make my life a living hell.  
_

 _She photo-shopped pictures of my face onto bodies of contestants from 'The Biggest Loser' and posted all over the halls. She even put laxatives in my milk. One time she put too much and I had to go to the hospital. It got so bad that my grandparents, my parents, and my brothers all had a conference with the school and her parents. My grandparents wanted him expelled but the school claimed she 'hadn't done anything wrong and I just had some bad milk'. Madison's mom even said that she was trying to help me because 'I could stand to lose a few'. I started crying I was so embarrassed and my mom punched her and broke her nose._

 _That summer I went to stay with my dad's dad at a reservation for a while. Granddad helped me build my self-confidence back up before I started high school. And for my first year, I was happy and confident about who I was._

 _Then I met Dylan. He was my first crush and after a few months, he asked me on a date. We dated until winter break my sophomore year when he asked me if I wanted to be his girlfriend and I said yes. After we started dating, he started commenting about my weight and hitting on my best friend Kai. Kai rejected him but one day she told me she had seen Dylan and Madison making out behind the benches. I didn't believe her so I kept dating him._

 _Then the spring dance came and he told me to wait behind the bleachers, When I went over to the bleachers, I found him and Madison making out. They stopped and Dylan called me a fat bitch and whale as he hit me in the stomach and other areas while Madison filmed it on her phone. At one point he even hit me in the chest and said "Geeze with all that fat it couldn't have gone to your chest?'. I got so angry that I ended up punching him in the gut and judo flipping him. After that, I ran and hid in the drama classroom as I waited for my brother Cole to pick me up. I was found by him and my art teacher and they took me to the campus police._

 _The next day I got a call that Dylan and Madison had been arrested for filming an assault and I told them I wanted to press charges. After that, I dedicated my time at my dojo to losing weight and with the help of Sensei Shu and my grandparents I did."_

As Autumn finished her story tears rolled down her cheeks. Sonia embraced her squishy friend in a hug as she let cry it out.

"I had no idea what happened to you," Sonia said. "So, you're worried Lin Chung will do the same?"

"I know he will!" Autumn cried. "I look like a pig!"

"No, you don't!" Mighty Ray said from the other side of the curtain.

"I agree!" Tempest added.

"Jumpy agrees!" Jumpy said.

Autumn smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Thank you."

"And if Lin Chung breaks up with you because of that," Tempest said

"Which he won't," Sonia added.

"Then I'll personally castrate him!" Tempest continued.

The young woman smiled. She had only felt love like this from her family, but she hadn't yet realized the First Squad was her family.

"By the way where is Lin Chung?" She asked.

"Looking at paintings," Jumpy said.

They all laughed as Jasper finished his measurements.

"Okay, I can either make you some new clothes or I can let out your old clothes," Jasper said

"Let's go with both, you're going to need something nice for the Dusk Festival," Sonia said as she handed Autumn a larger shirt and pants

"What is Dusk Festival?" Jumpy asked.

"I was wondering the same thing," Autumn asked.

"The Dusk Festival is a celebration of new life and new love as the nocturnal flowers around here bloom for the first time," Jasper explained. "People and animals exchange gifts and there's lots of food and games. It's also said that if a couple kisses during the last few rays of sunlight they'll be together forever."

"How romantic." Autumn sighed.

Mighty Ray and Tempest both made gagging noises, making Yaksha slap them both upside the head.

* * *

" _A stone as cold as ice,_

 _Seven rose petals, so it feels so nice_

 _Nightshade for a slow death_

 _A lock of my hair so it sets him on my path_

 _A lock of his hair so we are bound_

 _And so no love for her is found"_

Lady Green chanted these words as she dropped some of the pink liquid into a cup of tea and walked over to a meditating Lin Chung.

"Rose tea?" She asked.

"No," Lin Chung said without opening his eyes. "Please go away Lady Green."

"Look, I'm sorry for trying to flirt with you. I get it you love Autumn," She admitted. "but I want to be friends."

Lin Chung sighed and opened his eyes. "Only if you don't try flirting with me again."

"Deal." She said as she gave him the tea.

The young man took the tea and took a sip. The flavor hit him like a punch to the face, making him cough. A burning cold sensation started taking over his body, making is brain feel fuzzy, just like when he smelt her perfume. The symbols for death and love appeared on his back as he fell to his knees.

"If didn't have to happen like this my sweet Lin Chung." Lady Green said as she kneeled next to him.

"W-What did you put in that tea?" He gasped.

"A love potion," she said as she leaned in closer. "well, more like a death by love potion. Over the next three days, your heart will turn to ice, in the meantime, you'll fall deeply in love with me. You know Twin Masters wanted me to kill you right away, but this is way more fun."

"Autumn and the others will stop you." He growled.

"Oh I have plans for that fat bitch," She hissed. "I can hear her coming now."

Lady Green pressed her lips against Lin Chung's and wrapped her arms around him, so it looked like they were making out. Although he tried to resist, he found himself kissing back!

"Hey Lin, do you want to squeeze in a quick sparring match be… for…" Autumn said as she stopped. In her tracks.

Autumn froze as she watched her boyfriend kiss another girl. She felt her heartbreak as tears rolled down her face. The redhead took off running from the scene she had just witnessed, passing her friends and Sonia's brothers along the way.


	24. Jealousy

" _I knew it, I knew it, I knew it~"_ the voice sang.

"SHUT UP!" Autumn screamed as she ran into the woods.

" _He prefers skinny girls."_ It taunted.

Autumn stopped and gripped her head. "Stop it, stop it, stop it!"

The voice continued to taunt her, making the redhead bawl her eyes out and curl up in the fetal position. She felt darkness start to surround her, almost like Eclipse's darkness. As the darkness began to overwhelm her something or someone covered her in a warm light.

" _I got you my beautiful moonflower,"_ The voice of the prince said. _"Be gone you wicked shadow!"_

With a loud hiss the feeling of dread lifted from her, and she felt the light get closer.

" _Someone as pretty as you shouldn't be on the filthy ground."_ He said.

Autumn looked up and gasped as she looked at the shinning translucent form of the prince. He was dressed the same as last time she had seen Tàiyáng, only this time she could make out his beautiful dark amber-brown eyes. Autumn said the only thing that came to her mind:

"Please don't tell me you're dead!"

Tàiyáng let out loud music like laugh. _"I am not dead, but as you get closer to finding me the more I can show myself to you in the waking world. But you've… changed since the last time we spoke."_

Autumn looked down. "Yeah, I've put on like twenty pounds…. I look like a sumo wrestler."

The prince grabbed her hands and squeezed them tightly. _"You are beautiful, no matter your size moonflower. When I said you changed, I meant your spirit, it is glowing with power. You have gotten stronger since we have last talked. Although, you do look rather… Attractive like this."_

Autumn blushed brightly. "You're joking right?"

The prince shook his head. _"I think you look very feminine, like Chang'e, the moon goddess."_ He said as he placed his hands on her lower and pulled her into a hug.

Autumn blushed more and closed her eyes, wishing more than anything that this was Lin Chung instead of the prince.

" _You really love him, don't you?"_ He asked.

"More than anything… I wish he still loved me…" Autumn admitted.

" _But he does love you,"_ The prince said. _"Did you consider that he might be under a spell or something?"_

The redhead's eyes widened and she smacked herself in the head. "How did I not put that together?! Look, I wish I could talk more but I need to go."

Autumn took off running towards the castle.

" _ **You seem to like bigger women."**_ Tien Khuan chuckled as he appeared next to the prince.

" _Only when its Autumn,"_ He sighed. _"But she's beautiful inside and out."_

* * *

"Tempest no!" Sonia yelled as Yaksha held the coyote back.

"I just want to talk to him!" Tempest said as he struggled. "With my teeth!"

"Mauling does not count as talking!" Mr. No-Hands said.

"Hey, there's more than one way to communicate!"

"Biting not one!" Jumpy argued.

"But he broke her heart! I warned him what would happen!"

"I'm kind of with Tempest on this one," Mighty Ray said. "I'm pretty mad at Lin Chung too. I mean did you see how much she was crying?"

"Be as that may Tempest still can't maul Lin Chung to death just for breaking Autumn's heart!" Mr. No-Hands said.

"I don't want to maul him to death, just make sure he can't reproduce with that slutty bitch!" Growled the coyote.

"Tempest, language!" Autumn yelled as she walked in.

"Autumn!" Her friends yelled.

Tempest stopped struggling and ran towards Autumn, tackling her and licking her face.

Autumn laughed, "Tempest stop!"

"I'm just so happy you're okay! Can a tear Lin Chung apart now?"

"NO!" Everyone yelled.

Autumn pushed Tempest off of her and looked at her friends.

"We have a problem, I think Lady Green has Lin Chung under some sort of spell," Autumn said.

"Why would she do that? She's a member of Big Green." Mr. No-Hands said.

"She's probably jealous of Autumn," Tempest said. "Did you say she had a thing for Lin Chung?"

As the others debated if Lady Green had cursed Lin Chung, Sonia began to think if Lady Green had given him a love potion where did she get it from? As far she knew there were only three witches (including herself) who could brew a love potion strong enough to overpower Lin Chung's harmonic energy.

"Okay so how do we break the spell then?" Tempest asked. "An act of true love? True love's kiss? Self-sacrifice? Because I'm not comfortable with Autumn killing herself."

"I need to get her attention off of her and onto me. This means I need to say the words I never thought I'd say," Autumn said and turned to Sonia, snapping her out of her train of thought. "Sonia, will you give me a makeover?"

Mystique Sonia smiled widely and hugs her chubby friend. "I thought you'd never ask!"

Sonia practically dragged Autumn to her old bedroom. The walls were painted a soft blush pink with lilac flowers painted all over. The floor was covered in thick white carpet and big thick pillows. Pushed against the wall was a large vanity, covered with different types of make-up, hair products, and perfume bottles. Across from the vanity was Sonia's old bed. The bed was the size of a king with millions of pillows and stuffed animals. On the right wall was a door to a large balcony that overlooked the garden.

"Alright you sit here," Sonia said as she made Autumn sit in front of the vanity. "And I'll be right back."

She ran off and left Autumn to look at herself in the mirror. She ran her fingers through her hair, grimacing as she felt her fingers hit some knots.

" _Ugly."_ Lin Chung's voice said in her head.

Autumn closed her eyes.

"You're not Lin Chung so shut up."She said aloud.

" _You sure about that?"_ It asked. _"Just look at you. Why would I ever love you? You're fat."_

"Stop," Autumn growled.

" _Ugly."_

"Stop it!"

" _Scarred."_

"I said stop it!" Autumn cried with tears running down her face.

" _You should have let Wu Fan take you because I will_ _ **NEVER LOVE YOU**_ _!"_ It screamed.

Out of rage Autumn punched the mirror of the vanity, shattering it and cutting her hand. Sonia came running in and dropped the bottles she was carrying. She went over to her friend and pulled her into a tight hug, surveying the damage when she noticed that one of the mirror shards was still reflecting something. When she picked it up, she saw the face of Wu Fan smirking. Sonia gasped and threw the shard across the room.

"We're going to need more help than I thought."

* * *

"Sonia, I feel really silly, can't I just stay at the palace?" Autumn asked as they walked through Shīqùle Hěnjiǔ.

The two had gone into the village to see out Sonia's old friend Ah Cy, one of the only three practicing witches in the village. Ah, Cy was a specialist in beauty and love potions, as well as the village's matchmaker and wedding planner. If anyone knew anything about how to help them it would be her

"You look fine Autumn," Sonia said reassuringly. "You're beautiful no matter what."

"But guys keep staring…." She said self-consciously.

It was true, a lot of the guys in the village were staring at the pair as they walked. Some were staring at Mystique Sonia while a majority were staring at Autumn. Some guys were talking about them loud enough for them to hear.

"Damn, Sonia blossomed. You think she's still single?"

"Forget Sonia, check out her friend. Damn, look at those hips!"

"Man, Sonia's friend is hot, wonder if she's betrothed yet."

"If she that beautiful then I don't care what her dowry is."

Autumn felt even more nervous. All she wanted to do was crawl in a hole and die at this point. What she didn't know was that someone was watching her from the shadows.

"Sonia?! Is that you?!" Someone yelled.

Over by a fruit stand stood a young woman around their age waving at them, who Autumn guessed was Ah Cy.

Ah Cy had long jet black hair, similar to Sonia's but her hair was pulled into a bun that was held up by two golden butterfly hair sticks. The young woman wore soft pink lip gloss and rose pink eye shadow that complimented her dark blue eyes. Ah Cy also wore the most beautifully crafted outfit she had ever seen: A ruby red silk tunic with golden butterflies sewn into the sides that went all the way down to the ground with a black hem that was also stitched with golden flowers. The sleeves were short, just above her elbows with black hems.

What caught Autumn a bit off guard was the fact that Ah Cy looked to be seven months pregnant! Her swollen stomach pressed against her garment, making the bump extremely noticeable.

"Ah Cy!" Sonia said as she ran to her friend and gave her a big hug. "Its been so long! You never mentioned you were pregnant in your letters!"

Ah Cy giggled. "I was going to tell you after the baby was born but yes, Fu and I are expecting our first child, and with luck, it'll be a boy."

Sonia smiled and gestured to Autumn. "This is Autumn Moon, the moon soldier I told you about."

Ah Cy smiled. "It is nice to meet you, Autumn, how far along are you?"

At that moment the little piece of sanity that was keeping Autumn's anger in check exploded.

"I AM NOT BLOODY PREGNANT YA DOPE!" She yelled, her Irish blood not only fueling her anger but also making her slip into an accent.

Ah Cy and Sonia were a bit taken back. The red head's outburst also knocked Yaksha off of Sonia's head in surprise. Autumn stormed off, red-faced muttering Irish swears.

"I didn't mean to offend her," Ah Cy said softly.

"It's not you, both Autumn and her boyfriend Lin Chung are under some pretty heavy spells," Sonia explained. "Lin Chung is under a love potion and someone has put a spell on Autumn making her not only put on weight but I suspect they're trying to destroy her self-confidence as well."

"Oh dear, do you have any idea on who?"

"A guy by the name of Wu Fan. He 'bought' her from the orangutans a few days ago but Autumn didn't want anything to do with him."

Ah Cy nodded. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"That's actually why we're here, you're the only few witches in town that knows anything about these kinds of spells. Please, we need your help."

Ah Cy nodded and took the sticks out of her hair and turned them into a long golden wand with a butterfly on the end.

"Let's get to work."

* * *

Autumn had walked deeper into the village, still fuming with anger. She only stopped when her stomach growled, stopping her in her tracks.

"I forgot to eat today, didn't I?" Autumn asked herself aloud.

Sighing, the redhead looked around for something to eat when she noticed a small cart selling shrimp dumplings (Why some fish were sentient and others weren't confused her but she didn't dwell on it). As she walked up the hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she felt like someone was watching her. She turned around, but no one was there. Warily, Autumn proceeded to buy some dumplings from the vendor and went to sit on a near-by bench to enjoy her lunch. When she sat down it dawned on her on how much her body had changed since the day before.

While Autumn still had all her muscles from all her training and missions, she felt awkward and slow with her new weight. True she had never been anything close to a size 0 but now that she was this chubby she felt like she was in someone else's body. Looking down at her thick legs, wide hips, and chubby stomach, she doubted even if Lin Chung wasn't under a spell he would still find her attractive. How the men in the village did she'd never understand.

"What am I doing?" She said. "I need to stop feeling sorry for myself! I'm a member of First Squad! I didn't get where I am today by feeling sorry for myself!"

She quickly ate her dumpling and went to find Sonia and Ah Cy. As she walked, she failed to notice the old woman watching her.

"Looks like we'll have to try something else to get her to be yours, won't we Wu Fan?" Heiken asked.

Wu Fan nodded as he watched Autumn walk away. "But how? The spell isn't working."

"I have my ways. As long as Lin Chung stays away from her, I can guarantee she'll be your wife. Hopefully Lady Green is faring better."

* * *

Lin Chung was fighting himself within his mind. The part of him that was under Lady's Green spell was trying to take over his mind. The part that was still loyal to Autumn was fighting back but losing ground quickly.

" _We were meant to be with Lady Green! Who cares if we die?"_ one part of him asked,

" _Autumn cares,"_ the other said. _"We love her even if at one point we did have feelings for Lady Green. Besides, LADY GREEN IS TRYING TO KILL US!"_

"Lin Chung? Are you okay?" Mighty Ray asked as he came up to his friend.

Lin Chung rubbed his head. "I'm fine, what's up?"

"Snow Leopard Queen and Ram King will be here in the morning. Hopefully, they'll know something about the prince," He said. "By the way, I think you threw this in the trash by accident."

Mighty Ray took out one of Lin Chung's sketchbooks out of his pocket. This particular sketchbook was full of drawings of Autumn.

Lin Chung glared at the book. "It's full, I don't need it anymore." He said, even though the part of him that still loved Autumn wanted nothing more than to take the book back.

"Okay," Mighty Ray said. "Maybe I'll keep it and send it to Charging Bull or Kowloon. They both said Autumn was pretty cute."

Lin Chung's eye twitched. "T-That's fine."

Mighty Ray sighed, he was hoping for a bigger reaction. On to plan B.

"So, are you taking Autumn to the Dusk Festival tomorrow?" He asks.

The older teen shook his head. "I'm going to take Lady Green."

"Oh, okay. I guess Tempest will take her then."

"Someone say my name?" Tempest's voice said.

Lin Chung turned around and expected to see their coyote friend, instead, he saw a young man dressed in dark green pants and black boots.

"Tempest?!" Lin Chung in surprise.

"S'up Lin?" he said in a cocky tone.

Human Tempest was not at all what Lin Chung had expected. The humanized coyote had short neatly cut dark brown hair that was spiked up in the back but gave off a wild vibe. Tempest's skin was darkly tanned with tribal tattoos on his arms and sides. His dark green eyes were still animalistic but were also soft and kind. Tempest was now taller than him by a good foot or so. Along with his new height, Tempest had some rather imposing muscles with arms that could snap full-grown trees in half, legs that could destroy stones with one kick (not to mention his impressive six-pack that made him feel a bit inadequate). Overall he had expected someone who looked more like a hermit or High Roller, not some sort of demigod hunk!

A seed of jealousy planted itself in his stomach, right under his slowly freezing heart.

"When did you turn into a human?" Lin Chung asked.

"Oh when I realized Autumn needed a real man to protect her," Tempest said while stretching/flexing. "And not some flower painting priss."

Lin Chung's eye began twitching again as the part of him that still loved Autumn wanted nothing more than to punch Tempest in the face. Repetitively. With his staff.

"Well, I better find Autumn. It's dinner time and I made her favorite: fried rice with eggs." Tempest said. Lin Chung only then noticed the box in his hand.

"Her favorite food is vegetarian sushi," he blurted.

Tempest held back a smirk. He knew the real Lin Chung was still in there.

"Eh, whatever. It's not like she needs the food, she could stand to lose a few pounds."

"She beautiful the way she is!" Lin Chung yelled.

"Who's beautiful?" Lady Green asked as she walked in.

Tempest and Might Ray glared at the evil redhead as she walked in.

"You are my love." Lin Chung said with a smile.

Mighty Ray gagged while Tempest planned Lady Green's slow and painful death. The sea-loving redhead kissed Lin Chung on the cheek.

"Hey I saw some paintings down the hall, do you want to check them out?" She asked.

"Sure."

As they were walking away Mighty Ray noticed Tempest making some sort of gesture with his fingers.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Its called 'giving the bird'," Tempest said walking off.

* * *

" _Bubble, bubble, now make it double!_

 _Golden silk and thorn so rosy_

 _With thunder make it rumble_

 _With these ingredients three:_

 _Basils, violets, and lavenders_

 _Break the spells that divide two lovers!"  
_

Ah Cy chanted the spell over a boiling caldron, making it flash with purple and pink lights. Sonia took out one of Lin Chung's paintbrushes, Autumn's hair and a piece of Lady Green's dress.

 _"With this brew, we have made_

 _Let no illness, battle or blade_

 _Break the bond my friends create_

 _Restore my friend's confidence_

 _Send her some guidance."_

Sonia finished the spell and watched it turn blue.

"Is it done?" Sonia asked.

"It should be-"

 _ **BOOM!**_

The potion exploded all over the two women and Yaksha in a blue potion.

"GODDAMMIT AH CY!" Ah Cy's husband, Fu, yelled as he entered the room.

Ah, Cy's husband was not a very tall man; in fact, he was only a foot taller than Mighty Ray! Fu had no hair on his head but a very well-kept black mustache and goatee. Like his wife, he dressed in red and gold clothing, but his tunic was of a much lower quality than his wife's.

"Those ingredients are expensive! What were you making?!" he yelled.

"Sorry, my love. We were making a potion to break a love potion and restore Sonia's friend's confidence," Ah Cy said.

Fu sighed and handed the two girls mops. "You two meant well but we don't have the money to screw up like this. We haven't had any customers come in to get married since Twin Masters reared his ugly face and we're barely making enough with our potion sales."

"Things will get better. The stars foretell it." Ah Cy said hugging her husband.

"Yeah as if the answer to all our problems will come walking through that door…." He grumbled.

At that moment Autumn ran in out of breath.

"This… Place…Is hard… To find!" she panted.

Sonia ran up to her friend. "Are you okay?"

"This weight is making it hard to run…. Did you make an antidote yet?" she asked.

Ah Cy shook her head. "Something went wrong and it exploded. I'll have to go to the market and get some more ingredients."

Autumn sighed and looked outside just as the sun was starting to set. "We should head back. With this weight slowing me down it will take us long to get back."

"I will go with you. Perhaps I can find some wild lavender on the way."

The three girls left, leaving Fu alone.

"Wait! Who's going to clean this up?!" He yelled, but the girls were out of earshot.

The short man grumbled as he began mopping the blue goo off the floor. Soon he heard the door open again.

"We're closed!" He yelled angrily.

"I require your services," A young man in a cloak said. "I'll pay you two hundred gold pieces if you can help me."

Fu perked up at the sound of so much money. He ran to the front desk and pulled out a large book filled with various women. Some had 'X's painted over them to signify they were already married.

"We have a fine selection of potential wives right here in our cataloged," Fu explained. "We have women of all ages, shapes, and sizes!"

The cloaked man laughed. "I think you misunderstood me. I already have a bride in mind, but she doesn't want to marry me. She's very stubborn, reckless, and just not proper wife material yet. I figured you could do something about that and make her see that she was meant to be mine."

Fu frowned. "You mean like brainwashing? Sorry, buddy but no deal. I've done a lot of things for my clients over the years but I draw the line at that."

The young man hoisted a large sack filled with gold coins. "I'll pay a thousand gold pieces if you help me."

Fu almost fainted with the amount of money he was offered.

"Deal! It'll take about two days for me to work my magic but I can guarantee this girl will be yours and yours alone!" Fu said. "So how do you want her to act?

"I want her to see that her only purpose in life is to be my loyal and submissive wife, mother to my children, to be lady-like and all around the perfect wife."

Fu wrote everything down. "Alright, I just need her name and yours."

"My name is Wu Fan and her name is Autumn Moon, soon to be Fan Autumn."


	25. Chubby Love

That night Lin Chung couldn't sleep. His chest hurt as the spell was slowly making his body freeze from the inside out. He shivered as his breath came out like a fog.

" _I'm going to die if I don't do something…"_ He thought.

The gray-haired teen got up from his bed and walked down the hall, trying to warm himself up. As he walked Lin Chung subconsciously stopped in front of Autumn's room.

" _Maybe something in one of Autumn's spellbooks can help me."_ He thought as he opened the door.

The rooms First Squad had been given were just as big as Sonia's old room with large beds, vanities, and privet bathrooms. On the vanity sat Autumn's bag and spellbooks. As he walked towards her bag he stopped as he heard Autumn move in her sleep and mumble something about blue flying cats. After she settled back down he continued towards her bag. Once he reached her bag, he grabbed one of her spellbooks and attempted to leave but something compelled him to go over to Autumn.

Lin Chung walked over to the sleeping girl and watched her chest rise and fall with each breath. He wished more than anything that he could talk to her about what was going on but the stupid potion Lady Green was keeping him from doing so. As Autumn turned over in her sleep, he couldn't help but notice that Autumn was a bit chubbier than she had been earlier that morning.

" _She looks gross,"_ the part of him that was under the potion said. _"Look how fat she is! Land whale ahoy!"_

" _She looks beautiful!"_ the other part of him argued. _"Autumn is beautiful no matter what! So what if she is a bit on the squishy side? It's just more of her to love!"_

" _ **I think you're missing an important detail,"**_ A new animalistic voice said, making Lin Chung almost drop the book in surprise. _**"She's our soul mate."**_

He looked around and saw a figure looking at him in the vanity's mirror. He walked closer and noticed the figure in the mirror was him in his animalistic form! Looking down he noticed he didn't change into the form, so how was this possible?

" _ **Open your eyes, Lin!"**_ The figure said. _**"You know deep down that you think of her as more than just 'a girlfriend' and that you're more than just a normal human. When we get home, we should get father to perform the bonding ceremony. That way no one can take her from us. Not Twin Masters, not High Roller, not Tempest and not Wu Fan."**_

Lin Chung shook his head and rubbed his eyes. _"This potion is making me hallucinate…"_

As he left his reflection lingered for a bit and smiled at Autumn.

" _ **We'll be back together soon, love."**_ It whispered before disappearing.

* * *

The next morning Autumn dragged Mighty Ray out of his bed by his foot and out to the woods.

"Ugg…. Why are we up before sunrise again?" Mighty Ray whined.

"Because I need a training partner and since Lin Chung is under a spell you're my lucky victim," Autumn said.

"Uh, are you sure you can train in your uh…. condition?" He asked.

"You train with your's."

"HEY!"

Autumn stopped in a clearing. "Look if I can't use my physical attacks to fight then I'll have to use my magical attacks."

"Why ask Sonia to train then?"

"Because I don't trust her not to go easy on me. I know you won't," she said. "Also, have you tried waking her up at this early?"

Mighty Ray snickered. "Alright fine."

Autumn stood across from him and tossed him a banana. "Give me everything you got!"

Mighty Ray swallowed the banana. "I MIGHTY RAY! FEAR MY EYEBALLS!" He shouted.

The shorter warrior shot his lightning at the moon mage. Autumn created a shield around herself and smirked.

"Is that all you got?" She taunted.

Mighty Ray growled and reached into his pocket and pulled out the weapon he had chosen from the armory: A pair of brass knuckles. He channeled the electricity down is arms and into his fist. He ran towards the shield and punched it as hard as he could, using the brass knuckles as a conductor and shattered the shield and sending Autumn flying into the trees behind her.

"Whoa Autumn are you okay?!" Mighty Ray yelled.

The red-head shot a beam of moon energy at him sending him flying into a tree.

"I'm okay, how about you?" she asked.

Mighty Ray laughed. "I'm okay, but that was a cheap shot!"

The two continued to train until the sun was up. Autumn sat down exhausted and panting.

"You okay?" Mighty Ray asked.

Alex nodded. "Magical training takes a lot more out of me than physical training for some reason." She panted.

Mighty Ray nodded and sat next to her. "Are you worried?"

"About Lin Chung or my weight?"

"Both."

Autumn sighed. "It's not like I haven't been chubby before. If I have the lose the weight the normal way so be it," She said. "But Lin? I don't know what I'm going to do if we can't break the spell…"

Mighty Ray patted Autumn's shoulder. "Hey don't think like that! We'll save him!"

The red-head smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem. Now come on let's get back to training!"

Autumn nodded and got up.

When the two got back to the palace Autumn found a package on her bed with a note.

" _I finished your clothes for you Autumn. Also, last night I received a pattern from someone named Dewei Dishi and I thought it would look really pretty on you. -Jasper_

 _Ps. If you need any alterations to come see me."  
_

Autumn unwrapped the package and found several of her old outfits altered to fit her new body along with a few new outfits. She pulled out a long bluish-green dress and set it on a chair before going to freshen up in the bathroom. Once she was out of the room Lady Green slowly opened the door and walked over to her clothes, took the dark red bottle and put a drop on all the outfits. For a second the clothes glowed dark red before turning back to normal.

"Phase one complete," She whispered. "Now for phase two."

"Shit I forgot the soap!" Autumn yelled.

Startled, Lady Green dropped the bottle and jumped out the window.

Autumn stepped out of the bathroom and grabbed the bottle of soap off the vanity. Out of the corner of the mirror, she spotted the bottle lying at the base of her bed. She went over and picked it up to examine it.

" _What's this?"_ she wondered.

She took the cork out a gave it a quick sniff and scrunched up her nose. It smelt overwhelmingly of catnip and rose water.

"Yuck… Must be one of Sonia's perfumes," Autumn muttered as she put the cork back in. "How she can stand the smell of that stuff I'll never know."

She placed the bottle in her bag and went back into the bathroom.

Outside Lady Green was plucking thrones out of her butt, as she had landed in one of Eros's rose bushes. Once she had gotten all of the thorns out, she walked into the woods and found Heiken and Wu Fan waiting for her.

"Did you put the potion on her clothes?" Wu Fan asked.

"I did," Lady Green said. "How's it going with Fu's potion?"

"He said it would take two days to make but I bribed him with an extra two hundred gold pieces," He said. "Hopefully it'll be done by tonight."

Heiken nodded. "It should be with Fu and Ah Cy's potion brewing abilities."

"Then all we have to do wait." Lady Green said.

Wu Fan smirked. "I can't wait to have that chubby red-head obeying my every command, cooking, and cleaning and carrying my children."

* * *

"Where's Autumn?" Mr. No-Hands asked. "It doesn't take her this long to get ready."

First Squad, Lady Green and the royal family were all waiting in the throne room for Duusuu and Stoic to show up, but Autumn hadn't come down yet. No one had seen her since she had gotten back from the training that morning.

Duusuu and Stoic had messaged them that they would be arriving in the afternoon rather than in the morning due to some unforeseen traveling issues.

"If she doesn't come down soon, she'll miss the festival!" Topaz said.

"She probably got stuck in a door." Lady Green said under her breath.

Tempest nearly lunged at her and strangled the vile red-head. Why they hadn't sent her back to Big Green in chains was beyond his understanding.

"Maybe someone should check on her?" Agate asked.

"I'll go," Jasper offered. "She might need some help with the new dresses I made."

"There's no need," A guard said coming in. "Lady Autumn is walking down the hall as we speak."

Just as the guard finished his sentence Autumn entered the room. She wearing the blue/green dress that Jasper had made for her. The dress complemented Autumn's new figure nicely, drawing attention to her chest and hips, rather than her round tummy budge. The bottom part of the dress, as well as the sleeves, was covered by a beautiful vine pattern that Jasper had stitched by wing. Autumn was wearing a pair of blue slipper shoes. Autumn also appeared to be in a daze.

"Autumn are you okay?" Tempest asked as she stood next to him.

"Yeah, I'm just hungry," Autumn said in a daze.

Tempest muttered something about her needing to stop skipping breakfast.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce Duusuu the Snow Leopard Queen and Stoic the Ram King." The guard said.

The doors opened to reveal Duusuu the Wise and Stoic the Strong.

Stoic was a gray big-horned ram with dark wool and dark brown eyes. His front and back legs were as thick a tree-trunks with shiny black hooves. His horns were black with sharp tips, made for impaling things he ran into. When he smiled it was like being smiled at a pro-wrestler who just won the championship belt.

Duusuu was more interested in the book she was reading than watching where she was going. She walked right into the door frame.

"Ow." She said as she continued to read.

The snow leopard had bright white fur with grayish blue spots that covered her entire body and tail. Her eyes were all blue with a slit pupil like most cats, and around her eyes were two spots making it look like she had glasses on. Around her neck was thick gray scruff that looked like a fluffy scarf.

"Duusuu! Stoic! Its been too long." Eros said.

"Ay Eros!" Stoic laughed. "This must be the famous First Squad! Lin Chung, Mystique Sonia, Mighty Ray, Jumpy Ghostface, Autumn Moon, and Mr. No-Hands."

"And the other red-head must be Lady Green," Duusuu said without looking up from her book.

Lady Green smiled. "It's an honor to meet two members of the Warriors Ten."

"Likewise." The two animals said.

"Now that introductions are out of way, we should head down to the festival," Agape said.

The group went down to Shīqùle Hěnjiǔ, but Autumn trailed behind.

"Maybe if you lost some weight you wouldn't be so slow," Lin Chung said. The two were just out of earshot so no one could hear them.

"I know you don't mean that," Autumn said bravely, even though his words cut into her like a knife.

"You're even starting to waddle. You're disgusting." He continued, even though with each insult a little piece of him died.

"T-That's just the spell talking." She stuttered; tears were starting form at the corner of her eyes.

"You can't fight, your magic's weak and you're a fat-ass," He snarled. "The only thing you'd be good for is being some loser's wife. At least then you could raise some children and be useful."

Autumn started crying and ran off into the woods, leaving behind a very regretful Lin Chung.

As Autumn ran, she found herself on the shore of a large lake. She sank to her knees and cried until her tears ran out. Looking at her reflection in the water she no longer saw a brave, confident soldier she once was, instead, she saw a lost and scared young woman who was in someone else's body.

Flashbacks to Coconut Crab Island flashed in her mind as she began to feel a panic attack starting. If she had been stronger then Twin Masters wouldn't have possessed her. If she had been smarter, she wouldn't have gotten hypnotized. Her vision began to blur and her breaths began to shorten, making it hard to breathe.

" _You should have let Wu Fan take you and make you a proper woman…"_ A voice said in her head.

"Maybe your right…." She wheezed.

"Autumn? Sweetie, why are you crying?" Ah Cy asked from behind her.

Autumn jumped looked up, tears still running down her face. "I can't do this anymore… I can't keep fighting.."

Ah Cy helped Autumn up and looked her over. Her dress was stained with mud and tears.

"Okay lets you cleaned up." Ah Cy said.

She brought Autumn to her home and gave her a robe to change into and had her sit in the area where she did makeovers for her matchmaking services.

"Here," Ah Cy said as she handed Autumn a cup of tea. "This will make you feel better."

Autumn muttered a thank you and sipped the tea. Ah Cy took out a comb and began combing her hair.

"I'm going to make you look so pretty that Lin Chung will choke on his words." She said.

Over the next hour and a half, Ah Cy gave Autumn a full makeover. She washed her hair and added some special hair oils to make her hair wavy and shiny. She put a light coat of foundation on her face along with a nice coat of orange/pink eyeshadow on her eyelids along with some black eyeliner. As she applied the blush an old woman came in with a very traditional looking turquoise dress with gold embroidery around the waist, hem, and sleeves.

"I couldn't get the stains out of the dress Ah Cy so a brought one of my daughter's old dresses instead." The woman said.

"Oh Autumn this is Heikin, she owns the apothecary down the street." Ah Cy said. Autumn gave a small wave.

"I heard you were having some boy problems, so I would like to offer my services."

"What kind of services?" Autumn asked.

"Why I can turn you into a proper woman, one that any man would be happy to marry. You already have the figure most women would kill for," She explained. "Perfect childbearing hips, a strong body for manual labor, and let us not forget your other 'assets'."

Autumn blushed a bit. "But I don't want to get married or have kids," She said softly, but Heikin was pretty convincing. "I like fighting and being a solider for Big Green."

"Do you?" Ah Cy asked as she painted Autumn's nails. "Being so…. Un-lady-like seems to have driven Lin Chung away and he can't fully appreciate your new body. Why not be someone who can fully appreciate your body? Haven't you always wanted to be a bit more feminine? Wearing pretty dresses, having men fawn over you, being able to enjoy the finer things in life? If you married the right man, he could have servants wait on you hand and foot."

"That does sound kind of nice," Autumn said as she thought about how nice it would be to be treated like a princess. "But who would love someone as fat as me?"

"My dear, many men would kill to have a full-figured woman like you on their arm. You'd be a sign of their wealth and power," Heikin said. "I have a nephew who is waiting outside, why don't you change your clothes and I'll bring him in?"

The red-head nodded and went to change into the dress. As she changed, she began thinking about how nice the make-over felt. If she did marry someone of high standing, she could feel like this all the time, and if they did like her body then that was a bonus.

Autumn looked in the mirror and smiled. The dress did make her look very nice, like someone's bride. She placed her hand on her chubby tummy and imagined what it would be like to be carrying a baby.

" _Snap out of it, Autumn!"_ Part of her said. _"This isn't like you!"_

Autumn ignored the voice in her head and stepped out in her new outfit. She didn't see any guy only Heikin holding a small cake, no bigger than a cupcake, shaped like a rose.

"My nephew is shy but this is a gift of his affection, a rose cake." She said and placed the cake in her hand. "Why don't you enjoy it while I convince him to come in."

As the old woman left Autumn looked down at the cake. Part of her was screaming at her not to eat it, but the other part (the part that skipped both breakfast and lunch) told her to eat it.

Autumn brought the cake up to her mouth and took a bite. Immediately her mouth filled the sweet taste of the cake. Her body felt warm and tingly, as though someone had wrapped her in a warm blanket on a cold winter day. She took a second, more dainty bite, and let out a soft girlish giggle. Memories of her old life melted away and were replaced with etiquette lessons, dancing, sewing, and cooking lessons thought to her by Heikin.

After the third bite her posture straightened and her skin became much softer and more delicate. Her body gained a few more pounds, but this time they were centered in her chest, rather than her lower body. As she swallowed the last bite, gone was Autumn Lilly Moon. The woman that stood in her place was Lady Autumn Lilly. The only things that remained of the old Autumn were her moon marks.

"Autumn, may I introduce your future husband, Lord Wu Fan," Heikin said as Wu Fan entered the room.

The redhead bowed before her future husband.

"Oh dearest husband I offer myself to you so that we may further your noble bloodline," Autumn said in a soft, dainty voice.

Wu Fan smirked and tilted her head up. "My plump cherry blossom I have waited to hear those words from you for a long time. I shall take you to my estate in two days so that we may start our family, but tonight we will enjoy the festival. Why don't you touch up your make up before we leave? I must have the most beautiful woman on my arm tonight."

Autumn nodded and left the room. As she walked away Wu Fan watched his plump wife sway as she walked.

"You did your part well but what happens if the potion wears off?" He asked.

"Fu made plenty, but it does carry a few side effects if you give her too much, so be careful," Heikin said. "Also, why not take her tonight?"

"I want to rub it in the faces of those Big Green punks. Also, the servants need time to prep the wedding feast for our return."

Autumn made her way back to Wu Fan with a soft smile. "Shall we go, my generous husband?"

Wu Fan nodded and wrapped his arm around her waist as they walked. As they walked, he squeezed her fat, making the young woman squeak in surprise.

"M-My lord?" She asked timidly.

"I'm just teasing you my darling but," he leaned in close and whispered something in her ear, making her blush a red as a tomato.


	26. Wedding Bells Part 1

Tempest walked around Shīqùle Hěnjiǔ looking for Ah Cy and Fu. The two had told Sonia that they would have a cure for Lin Chung by the time the festival started and he couldn't find them anywhere. As he walked towards their store, he caught the familiar scent of Wu Fan. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up but he couldn't see him anywhere. The coyote turned human continued to keep an eye out for the creep as he approached Ah Cy and Fu's store.

When he got there, he saw Fu and Ah Cy both bound and gagged behind some bushes. He rushed over and ungagged the couple.

"Who did this?" He asked as he worked on the ropes.

"Heikin did this! She put us under a spell so we would help her!" Ah Cy cried.

"He-who?" He asked.

"Heikin," She said. "She was Sonia and I's friend when we were all studying magic together. Heikin got jealous of Sonia's beauty so she cursed her with the Yaksha spell, turning any man who said 'I love you' to her three times would turn into a Yaksha. Sonia got so mad that she challenged her to a duel and turned her into an old woman."

"Shit… I have to warn the others!" He said. "But did you finish the antidote?"

Fu nodded. "It's in my office! Top shelf, bright blue vile! You can't miss it!"

Tempest ran inside and grabbed the potion off the shelf, but before he could leave, he was stopped by Ah Cy's doppelganger.

"I won't let you get in my master's way," It said as it lunged at him.

Tempest dodged and growled. "I don't have time for this!"

The coyote-turn-human charged at the doppelganger headfirst and rammed her into the nearby wall. He heard something crack and the clone turned into a doll with one of Ah Cy's hairpins sticking out.

As he turned to leave, he caught the sight of Autumn's clothes on the floor as well as Wu Fan's scent. His mind immediately jumped to the worst-case scenario.

"THAT BASTARD!" He howled as he ran to find the rest of his friends.

As he ran through the town, he kept his eyes peeled for Wu Fan or Autumn, but he didn't see them and due to all the different scents from the people and food he couldn't find their scents anymore.

"Please any deities that are listening, please let Autumn be okay! Please! Oh Lord please let her be okay!" He prayed.

He ran until he found the others playing some of the carnival games that were set up for the festival. Lady Green was holding onto Lin Chung's arm as they played one of those balloon darts games. She cheered as Lin Chung popped five balloons with one dart and kissed him when the game operator handed him some cheap trinket for winning.

The mere sight of the red-head made his blood boil. His vision turned red as he charged at her, grabbing her by the neck.

"WHERE IS AUTUMN YOU BITCH!" He yelled.

"I don't know where that fat pig is!" Lady Green said in a panic. "Lin Chung help me!"

Before Lin Chung could even take a step towards Tempest, he tossed the vile to Mystique Sonia.

"It's the antidote, keep it safe!" He said and threw Lady Green at a nearby tree knocking her out.

Lin Chung retaliated by trying to hit Tempest with his staff.

"I think Wu Fan has Autumn!" Tempest said as he dodged Lin Chung's attacks. He kicked Lin Chung in the chest, pushing him back a bit. "We need to find her before he hurts her!"

Mighty Ray looked at him. "I'll go with Tempest,"

"Jumpy will too!" Jumpy said.

Sonia and Mr. No-Hands nodded. "We'll handle Lin Chung."

The group split up, but in their haste, no one noticed that Lady Green was gone.

* * *

Autumn rested her head on Wu's shoulder as they walked around the festival. Wu Fan was showing her off to anyone who would listen, saying how beautiful, smart and talented she was. Autumn just stood there and smiled, after all, a lady did not talk without permission.

"Congratulations Wu," one man said. "When's the wedding?"

"In two days, and after that, we will honeymoon and start working on our family," he said. "Isn't that right my love?"

Autumn nodded. "I cannot wait to bear my lord's children. I hope I can give him the family he deserves."

"Wow, she's so eager Wu Fan, and that figure," another whistled. "You probably have the most beautiful woman here. You're lucky to have her."

Wu Fan smiled and pulled Autumn close. "I sure am. Now if you would excuse us, I must find my beloved something to eat before we can continue."

Wu Fan lead Autumn away and smiled. The redhead was complexly under his spell, and with luck, they would be on the road tomorrow and be married the next day.

"I cannot wait for our wedding my love," Wu Fan said. "You'll be the most beautiful bide my family has seen in generations."

"You flatter my lord," Autumn giggled. "But I cannot shake the feeling that this is…. Wrong somehow…"

"How could this be wrong?" He asked and stopped walking. He pulled her close and tilted her head up. "When it feels so right?"

He leaned down and gently kissed her. Autumn was a bit shocked at the sudden display of affection in public, but she kissed back none the less.

" **GET AWAY FROM HER!"** Two voices yelled.

Suddenly Wu Fan was jerked away from her, and she was pulled into someone else's arms. When she looked up, she saw a brown-haired man holding her as a rabbit was attacking Wu Fan with a jump rope.

"WU FAN!" She cried as she struggled to get away from Tempest. "Let me go! Let me go!"

"Autumn!" Wu Fan yelled. He turned to face Jumpy and snarled. "I'm going to make you regret this rabbit."

"You hurt Autumn!" Jumpy yelled and swung his rope at him

Wu Fan dodged and grabbed Jumpy's rope, resulting in a tug of war between the two. At first glance, it looked like Wu Fan had the upper hand until a familiar battle cry cut through the air:

" _ **FEAR MY EYEBALLS!**_ "

Wu Fan screamed in pain as he was electrocuted by Mighty Ray, making him pass out.

"WU FAN!" Autumn cried.

Mighty Ray climbed down from the tree he was hiding in.

"Everyone okay?" He asked. "I mean other than Wu Fan."

"I'm fine, but Autumn's acting strange," Tempest said.

Autumn broke down crying. "YOU KILLED HIM!"

"No kill, unconscious," Jumpy said hopping over. "Autumn okay?"

Tempest shrugged. "She's acting really strange. Maybe Sonia can figure out what going o-OW!"

Autumn kicked Tempest in the shin and ran towards Wu Fan to make sure he was okay.

"My lord, wake up, please!" She said.

Mighty Ray and Tempest had to pull her away as Jumpy tied her up.

"Something's not right," Tempest said. "Why is she acting like this?"

"Maybe Wu Fan put her under a love potion as Lady Green did with Lin Chung." Mighty Ray suggested.

"Maybe," the spirit said. "Let's take her to the others. Hopefully, they're having an easier time getting Lin Chung to drink the antidote."

"You have to drink the antidote!" Sonia yelled as Yaksha tried to grab Lin Chung with his arms.

* * *

Lin Chung dodged Yaksha's arms and shot at the vile in Sonia's hand, narrowly missing it. He ran at her and swung his staff at her. Sonia dodged and retaliated by blowing him back with her tongue and into her father's wings.

Eros put him a bear hug and would not let go. L

"Let me go!" He yelled.

"Not a chance," Eros said.

Sonia walked over and tried to force the vile in his mouth. Lin Chung kept his mouth shut and glared at Sonia.

"Ug… This isn't working." Sonia said.

"Let me try something." Mr. No-Hands said.

The armless man went up to him and kicked him in the shin. Lin Chung only grunted in pain but didn't open his mouth.

"Hmmm, let me try something," Agape said.

The pigeon took his wing and began to tickle under Lin Chung's chin, trying to get him to laugh, but Lin Chung wasn't ticklish. He then went over to Mr. No-Hands and whispered something in his ear. Mr. No-Hands nodded and took off his shoe and sock. Agape picked up the sock and waved it in front of his face, making the gray-haired teen gag at putrid smell of the fungus ridden sock. Seeing her chance Sonia forced the vile in his mouth.

"You either drink it or I'm bringing back the sock." She treated.

Lin Chung relented and swallowed the antidote. Eros let him go, but everyone stood ready to fight if needed.

After a few seconds, Lin Chung blinked and rubbed his head.

"How do you feel Lin Chung?" Agape asked.

"Freezing!" Lin Chung said as he wrapped his arms around himself with his teeth chattering.

Sonia and her fathers frowned. "What do you mean?" she asked as Yaksha wrapped around Lin Chung as a blanket.

"L-Lady Green's p-potion has a second effect. In t-two days I'm going to t-turn into an ice s-sculpture," He stuttered as he shivered.

"Is there anything we can do to stop it?" Agape asked.

"I c-checked Autumn's s-spell books and I couldn't find anything."

Mr. No-Hands thought for a second. "Maybe Duusuu knows something. She did write a whole spellbook on ice magic."

"We'll go find her," Eros said and flew off with Sonia.

Lin Chung shivered again and fell to his knees. The cold was making it hard for his stand up, his bones felt like they had turned into ice and his skin was forming frost over it. Agape and Mr. No-Hands helped him to a nearby bond fire to help keep the cold at bay. The fire helped defrost his skin but is insides still felt like he had been eating nothing but snow for the past twenty-four hours, but what was killing him were all the mean things he had said to Autumn about her weight.

Just the thought of his hurtful words made him want to curl up and die. He wasn't even bothered by her new weight he thought it was rather cute. The chub made her look a lot more feminine, even though he knew she would knock him unconscious if he said that out loud. The thought of pulling his chubby girlfriend into a tight hug made him blush a deep scarlet. Her soft body pressing against his body-

"I think he's overheating," Agape said with a chuckle, breaking his train of thought

Mr. No-Hands sat next to him. "Think about Autumn?" he asked.

Lin Chung nodded. "I feel horrible for treating her like that. I wish I could take it back."

The armless former leader of First Squad nodded. "I can relate."

"You can? How so?"

Mr. No-Hands sighed. "When I was younger, I had married a woman who was in my platoon. She was my entire world and I loved everything about her and one day she told me she was pregnant. I was so happy that I went straight to the Emperor to tell him I was retiring from the military to focus on my family. He agreed to let me go only on the condition that if a war started, I would lead his men into battle. I agreed and went home to my wife. After three years the war with High Roller started and I was called into battle.

Being overconfident I lead my men into an ambush. It was me versus a powerful zebra sorceress named Māyākl. She was the one who cursed me, and some members of my team brought me to some of the most powerful mages in the kingdom, but even they couldn't help me. I got so angry that one night I lashed out at my wife and told her to leave and never come back. She left and I never saw her again. That is my biggest and only regret."

Lin Chung frowned. "What happened to your kid?"

"Her mother took her the night she left. Sometimes I wonder where she is and what kind of woman she grew up to be."

Lin Chung was about to ask another question when he heard Autumn yelling.

"Let me go!" She yelled at Tempest and the others brought her over.

"Autumn!" He said and ran over to her.

The gray-haired teen pulled her into a hug. "I'm so sorry I said all those mean things to you! Can you ever forgive me?" He asked.

Autumn looked at him straight in the eyes and uttered the most heart-breaking words he could ever hear:

"Who are you and why are you hugging me?"

Lin Chung's heart shattered at that exact moment. He looked to his friends for an explanation.

"Wu Fan did something to her," Tempest said. "She's not acting like herself."

"She is acting like herself, her new self," Wu Fan's said as he came over to them with a group of men dressed in black armor and helmets. "And if you don't want my privet guards to kick your collective asses, I suggest you give me my bride back."

"My lord you're okay!" Autumn said in a relief

"Fat chance you creep!" Tempest snarled and ran at Wu Fan.

One of the men stepped in front of Wu Fan and blasted the charging spirit spirt with Chaotic energy, sending Tempest flying back. The coyote growled at tried punch him but the guard dodged with inhuman speed. Mighty Ray sent a blast of electricity at him and managed to knock his helmet off, only to reveal one of Orangutan King's experiments: A half-human half-lion hybrid, with long yellow teeth, thick blood-stained hair and wild eyes.

"What the hell?" Tempest said.

The hybrid leaped at Tempest and grabbed him by the throat and threw at Mighty Ray. The two collided and were knocked out on impact. Mr. No-Hands threw his grenades at abomination to nature, but it didn't even phase it! The lion hybrid let out an ear-bleeding roar that sent No-Hands flying into a brick wall with a sickening cracking sound.

Lin Chung held Autumn tighter and glared at Wu Fan. He tried to send out a beam of harmonic energy, but all that came out was a flurry of purple snowflakes!

"You can't win Lin Chump!" Wu Fan taunted. "Now give me Autumn or my guards will eat your friends for dinner."

Seeing no other option Lin Chung let Autumn go. The red-head ran over to Wu Fan who untied her and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Go with my guards, they'll take you to my carriage," He said to her. "I have some unfinished business to attend to."

Autumn nodded and kissed his cheek. "Be safe my beloved."

The guards escorted Autumn away as Wu Fan got in Lin Chung's face.

"If you or any of your friends even get think about trying to 'rescue' her. I will personally make sure Twin Masters get your decapitated heads to hang on his wall." He said.

Lin Chung glared. "What did you do to her?"

"I made her a proper woman; submissive, feminine and obedient, something you should have done a long time ago." He smirked.

"I won't let you hurt her!" He growled and tried to hit Wu Fan, only for a sudden jolt of icy pain to shoot through his body. He grunted and fell to his knees in pain.

"I don't think you're in any condition to do anything. By the time you find an antidote I will already have her carrying my children," He smirked. "I wonder what she'll do when I take her on our wedding night."

"You sick bastard!"

"I've been called worse. Tah." He said and walked away.

* * *

Autumn sat in the carriage with a few of Wu Fan's servants who were brushing her hair and fixing her make up. The door opened to reveal a smirking Wu Fan.

"Out." He ordered.

The servants left the couple alone as the carriage began to move. He pulled Autumn onto his lap and played with her hair. Autumn relaxed and leaned into her master's touch.

"I was so worried that they had hurt you, master," Autumn said.

"You're cute when you worried," he said. "I figured my blossom would be worried so I had some tea prepare for you to calm your nerves."

Autumn sipped her tea and relaxed as Wu Fan plaid with her hair and rested his other hand on her stomach.

"Two days…. Two days until you are all mine," He said. "My family is dying to meet you, my love. My mother and sisters have already prepared your dress for the ceremony."

"I cannot wait, my love," Autumn said.

* * *

Lin Chung punched the wall in a fit of rage.

"I couldn't do anything!" he yelled.

"Lin Chung, please calm down," Duusuu said. "The more stressed you get the faster the ice will spread."

After their embarrassing defeat at the hands (paws?) of Wu Fan's hybrid guards, First squad along with the animal royals met at Ah Cy and Fu's shop. Fu explained how he was the one who made the potion that Wu Fan used on Autumn.

"If I had known that his Autumn and your Autumn were the same people, I would have never had made it," Fu said.

"What about an antidote?" Mr. No-Hands asked as Ah Cy wrapped his chest up.

"Well, the good news is I can make an antidote. The bad news is that I would need the catalyst potion and I don't know where it is or what it is." He said.

"Catalyst potion? What's that?" Mighty Ray asked.

"Traditionally they were used to weaken someone's mental state before giving them a sleeping potion for surgeries, but it can also make someone vulnerable to suggestions. Like a form of hypnosis. Knowing Heikin she used it on Autumn before giving her Fu's potion," Sonia said. "If I had to guess she was working with Lady Green and Wu Fan so Lady Green could get revenge on Lin Chung and Wu Fan could get Autumn."

"But what does she gain from this?" Stoic asked.

"Power, influence, revenge," Ah Cy said. "Autumn is Sonia's best friend, hurting her hurts Sonia. Wu Fan probably made her his family's doctor to keep giving Autumn the potion. If you don't have any magical abilities the magic in the potion dies. and becomes useless."

Tempest came ran in carrying Autumn's backpack. "Lady Green wasn't at the palace but I found something in Autumn's bag."

The spirit dumped the bag out and among the sketchbooks, spell books and other miscellaneous things was a red potion.

"The catalyst!" Fu said. "I can use this to make an antidote."

"How long will take?" Jumpy asked.

"Not long at all!" Fu said. "The main ingredient for the antidote is Night Phlox, one of the nocturnal flowers that bloom tonight!"

Lin Chung felt relieved, but a piercing shot of cold made him drop to his knees in pain. His friends ran over to help him up.

"But what about Lin Chung? I don't think he'll last another day." Mighty Ray said as he supported his leader.

Duusuu rubbed her chin in thought. "Well the average human temperature 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, if we were to increase his internal temperature by three degrees then the ice would take longer to take over."

"But humans get sick if their temperatures get too high, it could kill him before the ice does," Stoic said. "If he was an animal that would be a different story."

A lightbulb went on in Sonia's head. "Hey, how far are we from the Spirit Cave?"

Mr. No-Hands checked the map. "Not far, two hours on horseback. Are you suggesting we take Lin Chung there?"

"What other choice do we have?" She asked.

"But what about Wu Fan? We still need to find out where he lives so we can rescue Autumn." Tempest said.

Fu pulled a box out from under his desk. "I got you covered," He said began to pull out papers. "For insurance purposes, I keep records of where clients live, just in case they try to skip out on a payment. Here's a map to his estate."

Tempest took the map. "Alright, the only thing we need now is some backup. Those hybrids are tough and they outnumber us two to one."

"Ya got the ram army behind ya," The ram king said. "I've been itchin' for a good fight."

"You'll have my infantry soldiers behind you as well. They're the best at what they do." The snow leopard queen said.

Lin Chung smirked. "Let's do this."


	27. Wedding Bells Part 2

_**Hey guys just a warning: This chapter contains more adult themes. If you're not comfortable with this kind of stuff then deal with it.**_

Lin Chung stepped out of the Spirit Cave, now in his panther form (but this time he had blue/white spots instead of black) and walked over to Sonia.

"You still cold?" she asked.

"Not really," He said halfheartedly. "The fur helps I guess."

Sonia frowned. "You're still worried about Autumn?"

"I'm not worried! I'm just…."

"Angry?"

"Yes!" Lin Chung yelled. "But I shouldn't be! Tien Khuan taught me better and it's making me frustrated!"

"Lin, getting angry is just part of being human," She said. "I've seen you angry before."

"But not like this!" He yelled as his tail swished around angrily. "I've never been angry enough that I wanted to _kill_ someone before! But the thought of Wu Fan with Autumn makes me want to rip off his head and use it as a soccer ball! I need to be the example; I can't let my emotions get the better of me like this! If I do let it get the better of me people get hurt! Just like Huā!"

"Who's Huā?" Sonia asked.

Lin Chung froze like a deer in headlights.

"Lin, who is Huā?"

"N-No one," he muttered. "Let's just head back."

Sonia didn't push the matter, but whoever Huā was she defiantly had meant a lot to Lin Chung.

* * *

Upon their arrival at Wu Fan's estate, they were greeted by more of Wu Fan's servants and privet guards. Two female servants in black robes approached them and bowed.

"Take my bride to get cleaned up, I must speak to my father." Wu Fan ordered.

The two women bowed and escorted Autumn into the main building. Autumn was in awe of the pure regality of everything. From the walls lined with various Ming Vases and paintings of Wu Fan's family, too the gold and jewel-encrusted statues of dragons and phoenixes. The two servants lead her into the bathroom and began to undress her.

"Would you prefer to bathe alone?" one of them asked.

Autumn nodded. "Yes please."

The two servants left her alone as she stepped into the in-ground bath. She relaxed for a few minutes and the started washing the makeup off her face. As she washed her-self she couldn't help but look at the moon on her chest. As far as she knew she had had the two marks since birth, but something nagged her in the back of her mind, saying that was wrong. She hadn't had those marks her whole life.

But that was silly, she thought. She remembered kids making fun of her for her marks and her mother making her sweets to make her feel better, that's why she was chubby.

" _No! You put on weight because Lady Green cursed you! Charging Bull gave you the moon's blessing and turned you into a moon soldier!"_ A voice cried in her head. _"You are Autumn Moon! Daughter of Holly McGarden and Black Moon! Two members of the U.S Military!"_

Autumn rubbed her head. That was silly. She was Autumn Lilly, the pampered daughter of An and Hai Lilly. His father had been a merchant who had sold spices and silks all over the kingdom. She remembered being a bit tomboyish when she was younger, but that all ended when she started her lessons with Heikin, who turned her into a proper young lady. After her parents died in a fire when she was twelve Heikin took her in and raised her as her own. The only reason she had waited this long to marry was because of the war.

Right?

Autumn sighed and got out of the bath and wrapped herself in a fluffy towel. Her head was starting to hurt and all she wanted to do was go to sleep.

"Hello, my love." Wu Fan said behind her.

Autumn jumped and pulled her towel tight.

"My lord! You scared me!" She cried. "Please leave I'm indecent!"

Wu Fan chuckled. "You're adorable when you're scared my flower. I brought you your nightclothes, and a servant will take you to your room." He said and left.

Autumn slipped her nightclothes on and pulled her hair into a bun as a servant girl came in to show her to her room.

Suddenly chill ran down her back, like someone was watching her, but she shrugged it off.

Autumn walked into a large room with a very large room covered in soft pillows and blankets. As soon as she laid her head down, she was out like a light. In the middle of the night, she woke up to what felt like someone touching and playing with her stomach. When she looked around she saw no one and then back to sleep. Once she was asleep a shadow walked past the window and faded into the darkness.

* * *

Lin Chung sat up with Duusuu and Stoic, discussing the missing prince.

"I'm sorry Lin Chung but I don't know anything about the missing prince," Duusuu said.

"I don't know anything either," Stoic said. "The only one who might know something is Comet the Humming Bird Queen. There was a rumor that she took in a human boy before she closed off her kingdom."

Lin Chung nodded. "The hummingbirds will be our next stop, hopefully, they'll know something."

"May I ask a personal question?" Duusuu asked.

Lin Chung raised an eyebrow (do panthers have eyebrows?).

"I guess?"

"How long have you and Autumn been dating?" She asked.

"Seven months, and three days, why?" he asked.

"Well is she…. Um… Carrying your child?" she asked.

Lin Chung's tail shot straight up and the inside of ears turned pink. "N-No! We've never even done… That! We're not even married!" He shirked. "Why would you even ask that?"

Stoic and Duusuu laughed. "Because keeping your body temperature up keeps the ice from taking over," Duusuu said.

Lin Chung blushed even more and got up. "I'm going on a walk." He said and walked off into the woods.

As he walked, he began to think about his future with Autumn. He did want to marry her one day but he was far from ready for such a big commitment and he didn't think Autumn was either.

" _ **But you do have to admit, Autumn would look nice in a wedding dress."**_ The animalistic voice said in his head. _**"White silk wrapped around her soft body, her standing next to at the altar, and later that night-"**_

"Stop!" he yelled. "I respect Autumn too much to think about doing…. That!"

" _ **Who are you fooling Lin? You've been part animal almost your entire life! And now you're fully an animal and what is one of the basic animal instincts?"**_

"Please stop."

" _ **To breed! Face it, you know deep down that she is your soul mate! SHE IS OUR MATE!"**_

"SHUT UP!" He yelled and covered his ears.

" _ **SHE IS OURS AND OURS ALONE! ANYONE WHO TRIES TO TAKE HER IS OUR ENEMY!"**_

Lin Chung closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Alright, I admit it," He said as he exhaled. "Sometimes I do think about her like that, and yes, I would like to have a life with her."

" _ **And?"**_

"And I do think her new body is very attractive, but,"

" _ **BUT?!"**_

"I will wait until I'm ready and she's ready. Now I'm going back to the castle to get some sleep."

* * *

Autumn woke up the next morning to someone opening her door. She looked up and saw Wu Fan coming in with a tray of food and tea.

"What's all this master?" She asked.

"You never got to eat last night so I had my cooks make you breakfast," He said with a smile and sat next to her on the bed.

Autumn looked at the food which consisted of a bowl of rice porridge, pieces of fried bread covered in sugar, and some meat buns. The tea was a bright pink color and smelled similar to the rose cake he had made for her last night.

"It looks really good my love, but I was hoping that maybe I could… lose some of this weight?"

Wu Fan stopped smiling and glared. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Well its just, it's kind of hard to move and I feel kind of-MRPH!"

Wu Fan stuffed one of the meat buns into her mouth.

"Let's not forget that I'm the only man who's ever found this," He jiggled her stomach. "Attractive."

Autumn blushed brightly and swallowed. "I know but it's just I feel awkward in my clothes…"

Wu Fan's glare deepened and he began stuffing her mouth with more food. "So, you're thinking of leaving me?!"

Autumn tried to tell him no, that she wasn't thinking about leaving him, but her mouth was so full that she couldn't even get a word in. Once the food was gone Autumn laid down, her stomach hurt bad and she thought she was going to be sick. Wu Fan laid next to her and pulled her close. He rubbed her stomach to try to ease some of the pain.

"I'm sorry I had to do that my flower, but you need to learn that I'm the only man who is ever going to love you." He whispered and kissed her head.

Autumn only hiccupped in response.

The young green-eyed man sat up and picked the tea off the tray.

"Drink this," he said softly.

Autumn sat up took the cup and sipped the hot tea. Her body immediately relaxed as she fell back under the potion's spell. Wu Fan pulled her onto his lap and continued to rub her stomach, which was a little hard from the food she ate, making her look pregnant, rather than just fat.

"Feel better?" He asked.

She nodded. "I'm sorry for disobeying you master," She said softly. "Is there anything I can do to make up for it?"

Wu Fan smirked and nuzzled her neck. "I can think of a few things, but for now I want you to get changed, you still have to meet my father and you have your dress fitting for tomorrow."

The red-head nodded and got up. "Anything for you love."

Wu Fan pinched her love handle before he left, making her blush.

"Wu Fan!" she shirked.

Wu Fan smirked and waited outside for Autumn to see his surprise for her.

"W-Wu Fan? My clothes are a bit well, small." She said and came out.

Autumn was wearing a long pale blue silk dress that had golden flowers stitched on the bottom of the skirt with matching slippers. The problem was that the dress was too small and clung to her chubby body. The dress was also a bit low cut to show off her bigger chest.

"I look fat…"

Wu Fan smirked and stood behind her and ran his hands up and down her body. "You look so beautiful my plump peach blossom." He whispered in her ear.

Autumn blushed brightly. "Wu Fan?"

The older man smirked. "You know what? My father can wait," He said and kissed her.

Autumn kissed back and the two spent the next few hours snuggling. Wu Fan played with her stomach and had a cook bring them lunch. Wu Fan fed Autumn while playing with her fat. Autumn blushed and giggled. Eventually Autumn fell asleep after eating so much. Her captor left with a smirk on his face.

* * *

First Squad made their way to Wu Fan's estate, a good day's trip from the village, even on horseback. Duusuu informed them that the only way to save Lin Chung was for Autumn to kiss him. It might have been cliché but she assured them it was the only way to break the spell. As for Autumn's antidote, it had to be charged with Harmonic energy for it to work properly, and unfortunately, Lin Chung's powers were still on the fritz.

During the ride, Lin Chung kept trying to summon his harmonic energy but all that came out were purple snowflakes.

"I don't understand why this keeps happening." He sighed.

"Maybe it's because of the ice?" Might Ray asked.

"Try make snowball!" Jumpy said.

Lin Chung focused his energy between his paws and slowly a purple snowball formed. Once it fully formed it was the size of a baseball. Lin Chung tossed it up and down.

"Nice ice!" Jumpy said.

Lin Chung smiled and threw the snowball at a tree. The tree began to glow purple and grow white flowers, which soon turned into cherries!

"Wow Lin Chung, I didn't know you could do that!" Sonia said as they stopped at the base of the tree.

Yaksha plucked some of the cherries off the tree and gave one to everyone. Lin Chung put the fruit in his mouth and took a bite. As soon as he did a strong calming sensation came over him as his mouth filled with the sweet juice that was surprisingly cold! As soon as he swallowed, he shivered, like someone had dumped an ice bucket on him on a hot day.

"Wow, these are amazing!" Sonia said as Yaksha began picking more to put in Sonia's bag.

"Woah! Guys? I'm having a reaction or something!" Tempest said. His hair turned bright purple!

Everyone let out a laugh.

"Maybe its because you're a spirit!" Mr. No-Hands laughed.

"Maybe!" Tempest snickered.

Everyone relaxed for a moment, the stress that everyone was feeling drifted away for a moment.

Lin Chung smiled and thought, _"Autumn would love these!"_.

But the mere thought of his lost love made his tail and ears droop, but a flame of rage began to burn in his stomach.

He will get her back! He would save her! And he would get the prince to reverse her curse! Or die trying!

When they got to the outskirts of Wu Fan's estate they set up camp and waited for the ram and snow leopard armies to show up.

* * *

Autumn giggled as the servant wrapped a measuring tape around her stomach.

"Autumn, please stop giggling." Heikin scolded.

Autumn was standing on a platform as a servant and tailor worked on making alterations to her wedding dress. The red-head stood only in her panties and piece of fabric covering her breasts, leaving her soft belly, wide hips and thick thighs for all the world to see.

"I can't help it; my skin is so sensitive today!" She giggled.

Heikin sighed: the skin sensitivity was one of the many side effects from the potion, and while it was extremely annoying for both the tailor and Heikin, one of the other side effects was very helpful in controlling the giggly bride.

"Autumn if you stay still, I will give you a treat," Heikin said as she held up another rose cake, made from the potion.

Autumn stopped giggling and stood up straight and still, allowing the servant to get better measurements. Slowly but surely Autumn was becoming simple-minded and easier to manipulate. She began to rely on the servants more for help with simple things like undressing herself after some manipulating from Heikin.

" _My dear, it would far easier if you let the servants undress you. You're about to become the lady of the house, it's their job to serve you.", "Let them put your make up on you.", "You deserve to be pampered."_ She was slowly turning her into a pampered princess who didn't know how to do things for herself, let alone fight.

Autumn was closer to becoming Wu Fan's ideal bride, but also her revenge against Sonia.

"Alright, we're done here." The tailor said.

Autumn stepped down from the platform and allowed the servants to dress her. Heikin gave her the cake as the tailor flipped through her notes.

"Now I can let out the waist if you want, but I worry that the bust and skirt will be a bit snug," She said. "I also worry that the waist belt needs to be lengthened."

"My lord loves my curves, and he wants to show off how wealthy he is," Autumn said. "Don't let it out too much."

The tailor nodded.

Autumn finished her cake and let the servants dress her.

"I can't wait for tomorrow," she giggled. "I hope my master likes the dress."

"I'm sure he will," Heikin said.

She noticed that Autumn skin had begun to pale and her lips began to fill out, making them poutier looking and taking on a darker red color as well as her cheeks took on a soft rosy hue. Her eyelashes grew out as well, making her eyes pop.

"Come along Autumn, we have to meet Wu Fan and his father," Heikin said.

Autumn nodded and followed her teacher down the hall and into the dining room where Wu Fan and his father, Wu Lei, were waiting.

Wu Lei was somewhere between fifty and sixty years old with a long gray ponytail on his otherwise bald head, misty green eyes like his son and a gray mustache. He was also so over three hundred pounds with a large double belly, huge legs, thighs, and butt. His arms were so fat Autumn wasn't sure he could raise them above his head. He also had a large roll of fat where his neck should have been. When he smiled he showed his golden teeth. He was rather gross looking, and a far cry from his thin, well put together son.

"Welcome to our home Autumn Lilly!" He said with a loud booming voice. "Please sit!"

Autumn bowed to her husband's father. "I am honored to be in your presence most honored father-in-law." She said in a quiet voice before sitting next to Wu Fan.

"The honor is all mine! When my son said he had found the perfect bride I was not excepting such a lovely young lady!" He laughed.

"Autumn is much more than a pretty face. I have trained her to be the perfect wife since she was twelve: submissive, gentle, graceful, motherly and ladylike. The only thing I couldn't change was her weight." Heikin said as she sat down.

"Bah! It is not an issue! My late wife Tai Lee was much bigger than her when we married! In our family having a woman with a 'well rounded' figure is a sign of our wealth." Wu Lei said. "But enough talk, let us eat and celebrate!"

A group of servants came out will all sorts of foods, enough for twenty people. One servant poured a dark pink liquid into her cup while everyone else was given rice wine. Autumn paid it no mind as she sipped the wine as she ate. Halfway through dinner, Autumn began to get sleepy. Wu Fan excused them and took Autumn to get ready for bed. Once the two were gone Wu Lei began to cough like he was choking. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and a black shadow came out of his mouth.

" _Blah! I hate possessing this obese idiot!"_ It snarled.

"Be quiet demon! You know what to do correctly?" Heikin asked.

"Yes, when Mystique Sonia gets here I will destroy her and consume her soul, so long as you keep your end of the deal witch." He said with a smirk.

"All in good time."

* * *

Autumn slipped on her nightgown (with some help of some servants) and walked into her room where Wu Fan was waiting and laid next to him. He wrapped his arms around her and played with her belly, making her giggle.

"Tomorrow you and I will husband and wife," He whispered to her and rested his hand on top of her stomach. "And then we can start our family. I can't wait to see how you look when you're carrying my children. You'll be a great mother."

"And you'll be a great father," She giggled. "I can't wait to carry your child."

Wu Fan smirked; he was dying to make Autumn his. He ran his hands over her stomach and prayed that all would go well tomorrow.


	28. Wedding Bells Part 3

At Wu Fan's estate, everyone was buzzing around getting ready for the wedding. Servants were decorating the garden for the big day: the chefs were making the feast and guards were doing rounds the estate and watching for unwelcome guests.

Heikin stood in front of a large caldron, making a permeant version of Fu's potion so that Autumn would stay Wu Fan's perfect bride forever. It was a good five hours before the wedding so she still had time to finish the brew. The witch went into the next room to check on Autumn, who was being pampered by the female servants as she sat a tub filled with bubbles. Autumn smiled brightly at the witch.

"How much longer till the ceremony?" she asked impatiently.

Autumn's voice had changed, becoming much softer and delicate sounding, having no trace of her American or Irish accents. The redhead's hair was also much longer, so long that it almost touched the ground.

"Not till sunset child," She chided as one of the servants washed Autumn's hair.

Autumn giggled. "I can't wait much longer! Wu Fan and I are dying to start our family, and I can't wait to carry his children."

Heikin had to hold back a smirk. The young woman's mind was completely focused on having babies, and being Wu Fan's perfect wife. The potion had erased the moon soldier Autumn Moon and replaced her with the chubby, pampered, simple-minded Autumn Lilly. She decided to leave the girl and return to brew.

Autumn sighed happily as the servants dried her hair and helped her into a robe. The red-haired girl was then taken to her room to relax for a while before getting dressed for her big day. She stood in front of a full-length mirror and ran her hands over her body and smiled. She had put on a few more pounds due to the side effects of the potion but also due to Wu Fan insisting he feed her at every meal. Her thighs rubbed together making her waddle as she walked, if only slightly. Her belly was hanging over slightly and her arms were getting soft and doughy. Even her face was getting a bit fat with chubby cheeks that dimpled when she smiled and she didn't mind one bit. However, her reflection had a differing opinion

" _You look disgusting."_ It sneered.

Autumn jumped back as her reflection morphed into her former, warrior self. She was fifty pounds lighter and wore her blue gi with her fans and whip on her hip. Her hair was pulled back into a braid with Raven Queen's feathers sticking out of it. She also proudly showed off her moon badges.

" _This isn't you Autumn,"_ it said. _"You are not some pampered princess. You are a strong, confident fighter who could beat Wu Fan's ass with both arms tied behind your back."_

Autumn looked down at herself and then back at her reflection. "Master likes my body."

The reflection rolled her eyes. _"' Master likes my body.' HE IS NOT YOUR MASTER! HE BRAINWASHED YOU SO THAT HE CAN BOOST HIS EGO AND MAKE YOU HIS SUBMISSIVE OBEDIENT WIFE! WAKE UP! YOU ARE ATUMN F****** MOON!"_

In a panic, Autumn threw her hairbrush at the mirror shattering it. The sound of the breaking mirror alerted a male servant.

"Is everything okay Lady Autumn?" He asked.

Autumn nodded. "J-Just saw a spider."

The servant sat her down on the bed. "Would you like some tea?"

Autumn nodded, her hands shaking.

He left and came back with a cup of purple tea, instead of her usual pink and handed it to Autumn who drank it thankfully. Soon Autumn relaxed and another servant came in to take her to get a massage to help her calm down.

"Wait a second, I want to know your name," She said the male servant.

The young man smiled softly. "Its Tempest,"

* * *

As the sun began to set guests made their way to the main courtyard for the wedding ceremony. Within the crowd were Lin Chung and disguised Mystique Sonia, Mighty Ray, Fu, and Ah Cy. Also, among the guests was a dolled up Jilpa Zhou and a familiar red monkey on her shoulder. The guests were ushered into the main courtyard for the ceremony. The courtyard was decorated with large white lanterns that hung from the trees, candles lighting the path and white and gold flowers. Large cushions were set out for the guest to sit on.

Lin Chung held back a growl as he spotted Wu Fan hanging out that the alter, flirting with one of the female servants before taking his place at the front of the alter.

"I'm going to kill him."He whispered to Sonia

"I'll help," Sonia whispered back as she watched Heikin talk with Wu Lei.

"Shh, here comes Autumn." Mr. No-Hands said.

Said redhead was walking down the aisle in a long white and red dress. that seemed to hang off of her like a large sweater on a wire coat hanger. A white veil covered her face, making it almost impossible to see any part of her face. She made her way up to the altar and stood by Wu Fan's side as the ceremony began.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the joining of two souls in eternal love and companionship," Heikin started. "Today Autumn Lilly becomes Autumn Fan and joins the great lineage of the Wu family. Wu Fan do you take Autumn to serve you, to love you and to carry your children for the rest of your days?"

"I do." Wu Fan said.

"Wu Lei, do you accept Autumn into your family and home?"

The obese man laughed. "Of course!"

Heikin smiled. "Does anyone object to this marriage?"

Wu Fan smiled and held Autumn's hands. "Soon nothing will be able to break us apart." He whispered.

"I OBJECT!" A voice said from above.

Everyone looked up and gasped in shock. Autumn was standing on the roof, fans in one hand and whip in the other. The redhead also lost a good chunk of the weight, but not all of it, still leaving her a good twenty pounds bigger.

"WU FAN I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" She yelled

Wu Fan stepped back and looked at the girl standing next to him. "Wait if she's up there then who the hell is this?!"

Heikin ripped off the veil off the girl's head, to reveal Tempest in a wig and drag! The coyote leaned in and kissed him on the lips like Bugs Bunny did to Elmer Fud in the Looney Tunes cartoons. Wu Fan gagged and tried to wipe the kiss off his lips.

The coyote smirked and kicked him in the groin. "That's for brainwashing Autumn!"

Wu Lei growled "Guards!"

Dozens of the hybrid stormed the courtyard, making the guests run for cover. First Squad stood up ready for a fight.

"Well handle the guards you go after Wu Fan," Sonia said.

Lin Chung nodded and ran at Wu Fan on all fours. Wu Fan dodged and grabbed a branch off a tree and swung it at the panther. Lin Chung sliced the branch in half with his claws and pinned him to the wall. Wu Fan snarled and kneed Lin Chung in the gut, knocking the panther back.

"How dare you touch me you filthy beast!" Wu Fan said and pulled a dagger off his belt. "I'll have your pelt for ruining my wedding!"

The pompous young man stabbed at Lin Chung, only for it to be blocked by one of Autumn's fans. Wu Fan looked at the angry young woman standing in front of him. Her eyes and fists were glowing with moon energy.

"Autumn?" Lin Chung said.

The red-head kicked Wu Fan, sending him flying into the air. She unhooked her whip and swung it at him, wrapping it around his waist and pulled him down to earth, creating a crater where he landed. He stood up and glared.

"Is that the thanks I get for making you a proper woman?" He snarled.

"Proper woman?! You brainwashed me/her!" Lin Chung and Autumn yelled.

Autumn created an orb of chaotic energy and moon energy in her hands. Lin Chung gathered his harmonic energy in his paws in the form of a large snowball and shot it at him.

"AHEMAHEMAK!" Autumn yelled as she fired a beam at Wu Fan.

Wu Fan smirked as the two attacks hit him, creating a large explosion that sent the two flying back. In the dust of the explosion a dark figure appeared.

" _ **NoW leT'S HaVE SoMe FUN!"**_

* * *

" _Arbor Imperium!"_ Heikin yelled.

Nearby trees swung their branches at Sonia, but the beauty of First Squad dodged, only to be surrounded by the hybrid guards. One of the guards lunged at her, but Yaksha knocked them back with his arms.

"We're surrounded. Mighty Ray! Send up the flare!" She yelled

The shorter teenager nodded and swallowed some bananas and shot a large bolt of electricity into the sky, signaling the Ram and Snow Leopard armies. From the tops of nearby hills, rams and snow leopards ran towards them in a horde of righteous furry anger. Rams ran through the walls like a bullet through gelatin. Snow leopards sliced through anything that got in their way with their razor-sharp, whether it was trees plants or even guards.

While the guards were distracted by the furry armies Heikin hit Sonia with a blast of black magic, making the raven-haired beauty cry out in pain.

"YOU RUINED MY LIFE SONIA AND NOW I'M GOING TO DESTROY YOU!" She screamed.

Sonia was suddenly grabbed by Wu Lei in a crushing bear hug. She struggled but it felt as if her energy was being sucked out of her! Looking up she saw Wu Lei's face had twisted into a horrid demon's face with razor-sharp teeth, dark red eyes with black slit pupils.

" **I will enjoy consuming your soul!"**

Sonia screamed as felt her life force being drained from her body. Her struggle began to weaken and her vision began to blacken. For a short second she thought this was the end until she heard an all to familiar battle cry:

" **FEAR MY EYEBALLS!"**

The demon screeched in pain, dropping Mystique Sonia and expelling its self from Wu Lei. The shadowy monster snarled and flew at Mighty Ray and Sonia, teeth a claw bared. Yaksha lunged at his fellow demon and tried to ensnare it in his long arms but was unsuccessful as the demon phased through him with ease. Mighty Ray tried to fire another lightning blast but all that came out was tiny sparks. As the demon got closer, Mighty Ray did the only thing he could think of, he threw himself between Sonia and the creature of darkness. He closed his eyes and waited for the demon to slice him in half.

" _ **LAST RITE!"**_ Someone yelled behind him.

Mighty Ray and Sonia watched in shock as the demon and Heiken were sucked into a large black book by Jilpa.

Said mage gritted her teeth as the beast was sucked into the pages, as the force was enough to push her into the ground. As soon as the two were completely sucked into the book, she looked over at the red monkey hiding in the trees.

"Blayze! Now!" she yelled.

The monkey launch himself out of a tree and at the book. He grabbed a nearby rope and quickly tied the book up as it trembled and shook so it couldn't open.

"Done!" Blayze said as he threw the book back to Jilpa who stuck it under her arm.

"How did you do that?" Sonia asked as she approached the duo.

Jilpa smiled. "The spell last rite allows the user to exorcise demons, unfriendly spirits and other evil things from the living world and seal them in an object such as a book or a bottle."

"The spell is also one of the original spells animals taught humans long ago," Blayze added as he perched himself on Jilpa's shoulder.

"And you are?" Sonia asked.

"I'm Jilpa Zhou and this is-"

"THAT'S THE MONKEY I SAW IN BIG GREEN!" Mighty Ray yelled.

Blayze was about to respond when both he and Jilpa were yanked back by one of the hybrid guards. The two struggled as the guard lifted them into the air, just above some sharp pieces of debris.

"WOOYA!" -Hands yelled as he tackled the guard.

The guard dropped them, but before they could be impaled Tempest, back in his coyote form, tackled them away from it.

"THIS IS FOR TOUCHING MY WIFE!" Mr. No-Hands yelled as he kicked the guard until its ribs cracked and the monster was coughing up blood.

The others watched in shock as the former leader of first squad beat the ever-living life out of the guard, even after it had stopped breathing.

"Jian! JIAN STOP!" Jilpa yelled as she pulled the warrior away. "He's dead Jian!"

-Hands stopped and broke down crying. "Is it really you Ji-Ji?"

Jilpa cupped her hands around his face and smiled. "It's me my love."

The two embraced, both crying tears of joy as their friends and teammates watched in shock.

"Hate to ruin the moment, but there's still a battle going on." Tempest coughed.

The two broke apart, blushing like two thirteen-year-olds who got caught making out behind the bleachers at school.

"AAHHHHH!" Lin Chung yelled as he was thrown across the courtyard.

On the other side of the courtyard, another demon was standing with Autumn wrapped in its inky black tentacles. Unlike Wu Lei, this demon was much taller, ten or eleven feet tall and was completely solid black, no eyes or mouth. Four long skinny tentacles sprouted from its back, one of them holding an unconscious Autumn.

Lin Chung tried to stand up only for a shot of icy cold to shoot through his body. His fur was starting to turn white and his legs were starting to stiffen up, making him drop to the ground in pain.

"Lin Chung!" His friends cried.

" **Aww is the poor kitty tired?"** Wu Fan taunted. **"Let me put you out of your misery."**

The demon raised his tentacle to deliver the final blow when a blast of yellow energy severed the appendage. Everyone looked at Autumn who was awake with eyes glowing a bright yellow color before slowly turning into a dark inky blackness. Suddenly the sky began to darken, the fighting stopped as everyone turned to see what was going on. chaotic energy, harmonic energy, and moon magic began to swirl around the three.

" _ **I call the darkness unto me…."**_ Autumn chanted as the energies began to darken, becoming black just like her eyes.

"What is she doing?" Sonia asked in fear as she watched as the shadows began to move on their own.

 _ **From deepest depths of earth and sea…**_

The winds began howling, Blayze, Tempest, and Jumpy all cower in fear.

"She's using it…." Tempest gulped as he hid behind -Hands.

 _ **Eclipse my heart with rightful power… STAND BEFORE ME AND COWER!**_

Time and space seemed to stop as the redhead floated into the air, her hair moving with the wind, her eyes black and emotionless. She pressed her hands together and slowly a ball of multiple energies began to form. Sonia's and Jilpa's magic were being drawn out of them each taking on a bright white color.

 _ **FROM ANCIENT EVILS UNAWOKEN TAKE MY WORDS AS TOKEN**_

 _ **TO BLACKEST NIGHT I PLEDGE MY SOUL AND CRUSH MY HEART TO BURNING COAL**_

The wind became deafening as Autumn continued the inaction.

"WHAT SPELL IS THAT?!" Might Ray yelled over the wind.

"The forbidden spell of the eclipse: Nox Atra Polum," Blayze said, "Also known as…."

 _ **TO SUMMON FORTH A DEATHLY POWER**_

"Final Death."

 _ **AND SEE MY HATED FOE DEVOURED!**_

The ball of energy expanded, surrounding everyone and everything within the estate. For a brief second, it was quiet, but soon the sphere imploded on itself with a blinding white light. When the light faded the demon formally known as Wu Fan was nowhere to be seen, leaving Autumn in a crater, unconscious and barely breathing.

* * *

First Squad along with Blayze sat outside the Ram's medic tent and waited for Jilpa to come out and update them on Autumn's condition. Lin Chung paced, shivering as his breath came out in a fog. When the older mage finally came out, she had a very grim look on her face.

"She's awake, but she's shut herself down," Jilpa said.

"What do you mean?" Lin Chung asked.

Jilpa sighed. "See for yourself."

Autumn was laying on a cot thrashing and screaming in her sleep. The moon on her forehead was flashing bright yellow with every scream and cry of pain.

Mr. No-Hands pulled his head back out and looked at Jilpa.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked.

"It could be many things, but my guess is that she's traumatized. That spell was slowly erasing her very self and after what you told me she went through with Twin Masters, I'd say she's hit her breaking point." She explained. "Her mind is trying to cope with this but it's not doing too well."

Sonia looked at her. "What can we do to help?"

Jilpa sighed. "I'm not sure there is anything you can do other than give her time."

"But we don't have time," Mighty Ray said. "We need her to save Lin Chung before he freezes."

"There might be a way to help her," Blayze piped up. "If you could somehow enter her mind you could get to the root of the problem and help her from inside."

"Is that even possible?" Lin Chung asked.

"It's possible but only three of you could enter her mind at one time, any more could parentally damage her psyche," Jilpa explained. "I know a spell but it only lasts a few hours, and even if you could help her she may never be the same."

"We have to try. I'll go in," Lin Chung offered but gasped in pain as his fur began to turn white again.

"No, you will stay here. If your mind leaves your body you'll die." The red monkey said.

"Then I'll go in," Tempest said. "I know her better than anyone."

"Then I'm going in too." Mighty Ray said. "Autumn's like a sister to me."

"Make that three," Sonia added.

Jilpa nodded. "Alright, everyone but you three need to stand back, I've only done this once."

Lin Chung looked at his friends. "Be safe."

"We will," Tempest said.

The rest of the group stood back as Jilpa began to chant:

"Heaven's mind open now

I send these three into my student's mind

Through the darkness of the mind and light of the soul

I send them in so that they may bring control".

Suddenly Sonia, Mighty Ray, and Tempest all fainted and Autumn's screams stopped.


	29. In Your Head

When Mighty Ray woke up in a large room filled with toys and games with a little girl around seven or eight looking down at him.

"AH!" Mighty Ray yelled as he shot up. "Who are you?!"

The little girl had long red pigtails and was wearing a simple blue shirt and basketball shorts. She had a band-aid on her cheek and was missing one of her front teeth.

"I'm April!" She giggled and grabbed his arm. "You wanna play some basketball? My brothers never let me play with them because I'm short."

"Uhhh…. Sure?" He said.

The little girl dragged him over a full-sized basketball court with stuffed animals in the stand to act as the audience. She picked a basketball and smiled widely.

"Game on!"

* * *

Sonia found herself in a long hallway lined with doors, each one with a sign. Some were labeled in English; others were in Chinese and another language that Sonia assumed was Japanese. When she opened one door with Japanese writing, she found a large classroom

"I'M GOING TO ROAST THAT DAMN NERD!"

Sonia yelped and slammed the door shut. She turned around and opened another door, allowing a small golden ball to fly out and flew around her head before flying back in.

" _Shin'nyū-sha o tomeru!" (STOP INTRUDER!)_

Sonia turned around and saw a black-haired girl running towards her dressed in a white gi. Before the raven-haired girl could react, the samurai girl leaped into the air and kicked her in the head, knocking her down.

" _Buta o kau," She said and unsheathed her sword. "Watashi wa anata no shi o jinsoku katsu mutsū ni shimasu." (Stay down swine. I'll make your death quick and painless.)_

"I can't understand you!" Sonia yelled and blew the girl away with her tongue.

The girl stabbed the ground with her sword to avoid being blown away. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a black orb and threw it at the ground, releasing a cloud of black smoke, stunning Sonia and making her cough. The ninja girl took this opportunity to strike the final blow. She raised her sword to strike Sonia down, but before she could cut her head off, she heard the sound of a gong behind her.

"Otaku! That's enough, Sonia is not your enemy!" A familiar voice said.

The ninja girl, now known as Otaku, sheathed her sword and kneeled down.

"Alexandria?" Sonia coughed and rubbed her eyes.

Indeed, it was the purple and green-haired version of Autumn from their adventure on Coconut Crab Island, but there were quite a few changes to her since Sonia last saw her. For one Alexandria hair was in a stacked pixie cut with her bang covering her left eye. The manifestation of strength seemed to have aged slightly, appearing to be in her mid-twenties rather than late teens.

What caught Sonia off guard was how Alexandria was dressed. She wore a dark purple bikini top with a pair of green pants with one of the legs cut off just a few inches below her thigh and a purple and pair of green purple boots.

" _Props for her sticking to her color scheme I guess."_ Sonia thought.

"What are you doing here? The human mind is not a playground," Alexandria scolded. "Otaku could have easily turned you into Mystique Sonia cutlets!"

"Yeah, about that, Autumn's been traumatized and isn't waking up," Sonia explained.

"And you thought it would be a great idea to enter Autumn's mind alone?" She asked with her hand on her hips.

"Tempest and Mighty Ray are here too I just don't know where exactly," She said. "Also where am I exactly?"

Alexandria sighed and motioned for Otaku to stand up. "This is the Hall of Obsessions. Everything Autumn's ever liked and obsessed over is in this hall in its room. Everything from Autumn's childhood crushes to her favorite anime and manga. Otaku is it's guardian, nothing comes in and out of here without her knowing. Otaku, go search for Mighty Ran and Tempest. Sonia and I will meet you in the Hall of Memories."

"Hai." Otaku said and ran off.

Sonia looked at Alexia who leaned against a wall and took deep breaths as she held her side in pain.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sonia asked.

"To be completely honest? No. Heikin's spell took a lot of all of us. Otaku and many of the others were almost wiped out completely. Come on, we should get going."

As the two walked down the hall Sonia noticed the large cracks in the walls and doorways were missing doors allowing the things that Autumn had once obsessed over to roam freely. A person was climbing on the walls in a red spandex suit, a blond girl with two bun pigtails on her head was eating ice cream, a brown fuzz-ball with wings floated through the air, and a guy with a weird metal box asking if there were any spirits in the room.

"I didn't realize the spell affected her mind so much," Sonia said as she walked past a black Pegasus eating the carpet.

"Most of this was caused by Twin Masters when he possessed her. Without me here the rest of her brain began to succumb to chaos." Alexandria said. "That why I let him 'kill' me."

Sonia nodded as they turned down another hall filled with portraits of people hanging on the wall, each with a plaque, like the doors from the Hall of Obsessions. Each of the people in the paintings was moving and talking to each other.

"Ronda Rousey, The Rock, Charles Martel, Vlad the Impaler (Vlad Tepes/ Vlad Dracula), Gordon Ramsay, JK. Rowling, Jackie Chan, Satoshi Tajiri, Walt Disney, Rick Riordan, George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Carrie Fisher, Pablo Picasso, Rebeca Sugar, and Robin Williams? Who are these people?" Sonia asked.

"This is the hall of heroes. Every one of them has inspired her in one way or another. There even some familiar faces you might recognize." Alexandria explained.

Sonia stopped in front of a portrait with a plaque that read: Rebeca Sugar.

"How did you inspire Autumn?" she asked.

The woman smiled. "I inspired her to not be ashamed of her sexuality and to come out to her family as bisexual."

"I inspired her to brighten people's lived with laughter." Robin Williams said.

"That woman can fight!"

"To stand up for your family/beliefs/country."

"To be creative!"

"Your disabilities do not limit you!"

"To excel in all that you do!"

"To not limit yourself!"

"TO KICK ASS!"

Sonia was taken back at what all of Autumn's heroes said. No wonder Autumn was so influential, she had some pretty good role models.

"We inspire her to be the best she can be." A group of familiar voices said further down the hall.

Sonia and Alexandria walked up to a group portrait of First Squad, Tempest, Second Squad and Commander Apetrully, all smiling. Sonia had to fan her eyes to keep from crying. She had no idea Autumn thought of them like that.

"There's one other painting you should see," Alexandria said and turned her around.

The last painting was of nine people, all of whom looked very similar to Autumn. Fo

"Is that her family?" Sonia asked.

All of Autumn's brothers had dark skin, dark brown eyes and black hair, one of them had he pulled back in a man bun, the other three had buzz cuts and one wore a US navy uniform, and the other two wore US air force uniforms.

The older men in the painting were probably Autumn's dad and grandfathers. Two of the men, who Sonia guessed were Autumn's dad and his dad because they looked so much like her brothers. Autumn's dad wore a US army uniform while her grandfather wore Cherokee warrior robes and a headdress. The other people must have been Autumn's mom and her parents. All of them had the same red hair, freckles, and green eyes. Her grandmother and grandfather both wore police uniforms while her mother wore a US Air force pilot suit.

"She…. She looks so much like them," Sonia said. "Does she miss them?"

"Immensely," Alexandria said. "Come on."

The two came to the Hall of Knowledge, and unlike the Hall of Heroes and Hall of Obsessions, the walls were lined with file cabinets and bookshelves that recorded everything Autumn had ever learned and experienced.

What worried Sonia was that many of the shelves were burned and file cabinets were destroyed or on fire, or both.

"Did Twin Masters cause this too?" Sonia asked.

"No this is from Fu's potion," Alexandria says.

"Fix fix fix fix fix fix …"

"Hmn?"

Sonia turned around and saw a little blue and white robot running around putting things back on shelves and putting out fires.

"What's that?"

"Anxiety," Alexandria said. "Also known as A9ZITY but I call her Annie"

"FIX!"

"Sonia! Alexandria please help me!" Mighty Ray yelled as he ran down the hall.

"Wait don't go!" The little girl yelled as she chased after him.

Alexandria quickly scooped up the little tyke.

"April, what have I told you about chasing people?" Alexandria asked.

"But he stopped playing with me…." The little girl cried. "He's a meanie!"

"Am not!" Mighty Ray yelled.

April whimpered and started crying more. Sonia slapped Mighty Ray upside the head.

"We're here to fix Autumn, not traumatize her more!" She yelled.

"Wait that's Autumn?!" Mighty Ray asked, shocked.

"Well part of her," Sonia explained. "From what I can guess all these characters are parts of her personality. Alexandria is her strength and leadership abilities, Otaku is her courage and discipline, Annie is her anxiety and April is what I'm guessing is her childish side."

Mighty Ray nodded and went over to the little girl a kneeled.

"I'm sorry I made you upset," Mighty Ray said.

April smiled and hugged Mighty Ray. "That's okay, I forgive you cause you're my friend!"

Mighty Ray hugged back.

Suddenly the ground began to shake, and shouting could be heard down the hall. Mighty Ray picks April up as Alexandria growled and took out her whip.

"Shit they got out again…" Alexandria growled.

"What is that?" Sonia asked a horde of shadowy figures raced down the hall.

"Mighty Ray take April and run," Alexandria said.

Mighty Ray nodded and ran off with the younger version of Autumn. Sonia looked at Alexandria with a worried look.

"What are they?!" She asked as the shadows got closer.

"Autumn's Demons."


End file.
